


Hideaway

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Category: Smallville
Genre: Best Friends, F/M, Friendship, Getting to Know Each Other, Green Arrow - Freeform, Hiding, Oliver Queen is smart, Protective Oliver Queen, Running Away, Secrets, Slow Burn, work relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:14:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24118567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: After Lionel Luthor has her father murdered, Chloe finds herself hiding in Star City, California, and ends up meeting the city's golden boy, Oliver Queen.
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

It had been by far the worst summer of her life. It had been over two months and it didn't feel like any time had gone by at all, the days all felt the same, long, dragging and everything still felt unfair. It should have been _her_ not him.

As hard as she had tried, her dad had gotten involved in her mess with the Luthors, she was too selfish, too involved to consider his safety. First he had lost his job, then he got blacklisted and couldn't find work anywhere else, regardless of his many years of experience and his impressive resume and when she tried to help him with that, she only made things worse and Lionel Luthor had killed him.

Chloe knew it wasn't an accident, she knew it was no coincidence that she had made it to the underground tunnel on time and her dad hadn't. She knew that was Lionel's payback for her helping Lex and sending him to jail. Behind bars or not, Lionel Luthor had a long reach and he wouldn't have wanted to just kill her, he wanted to make her suffer and blame herself for her father's death. It worked.

And now she was alone, completely alone. For her protection, Lex and the FBI had arranged for her to move to Star City; Clark, Pete and Lois all thought she was dead and her name was now Gabriella Adams. Gabe, for short. School hadn't started yet and while Lex had called her once or twice, she hadn't talked to anyone else. She didn't _know_ anyone else.

Not that she had been making an effort to. Most days she just stayed inside the apartment Lex had arranged, some days, like today, she went to the beach, but not until the sun was setting and everyone else had already headed home. She didn't really want to see anyone or talk to anyone.

***

It had been a long summer for him, as well, and also not in the good way. He had left Mercy nearly six months ago, and the expression on her face, the devastation, would forever be emblazoned in his memory. He'd known all along that she wasn't the one, that it wouldn't last forever. They had fun together, they were intellectually compatible, and hell. He even loved her in a way. But something had been missing, and when she'd brought up the idea of marriage for the third time, he'd started feeling smothered. It didn't make sense, really, because they'd been happy together. Really happy, actually. 

But happiness wasn't something guys like Oliver Queen could hold onto for long. Not without doing _something_ to screw things up. And he had. Royally. He'd cheated on her, left her, broken her heart, and she probably hated his guts. Not that he blamed her. She had every right to after what he'd put her through. 

Sighing softly, Oliver found himself on the beach that evening. He simply stood, staring out over the ocean, watching the sunset. It was something he hadn't done for a long time. Usually by now he was gearing up to go on patrol, but tonight he just wanted a break. Just one night. He felt more than saw another presence nearby, and he turned his head to look, spotting a petite blonde sitting several yards away.

She didn't even notice someone else was there, lost in thought, she tightened her arms around her knees and pulled them as close to her chest as she could, her eyes on the ocean.

He watched her for a moment, his eyebrows furrowing a little. There was something about her posture that wasn't quite right. He couldn't help feeling compelled to at least make sure she was all right. Drawing in a breath, he walked down the sandy beach until he was only a few feet away, then he knelt down. "Miss?"

In less than a second, Chloe jumped to her feet, her eyes wide as she wiped her tears, she hadn't expected anyone to be around, much less right next to her. She just stared at him.

That certainly wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting. Eyes filled with concern, he slowly rose to his feet, holding his hands up slightly to show that he wasn't going to harm her. Because the way she'd responded, someone definitely had. "Sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Chloe sighed softly and brushed her hands over her jeans, nodding, "it's okay, I'm just jumpy."

He nodded a little, as well. "I saw you and I just...wanted to make sure you were all right," he admitted, offering her a small smile before looking out over the ocean.

Frowning slightly, Chloe just shrugged and glanced over at him, squinting, he looked familiar and for a second, she couldn't tell why and then, without realizing she was actually speaking, she asked quietly, "Oliver Queen?" 

The sound of his name drew his gaze back to her face. He wasn't really surprised she knew who he was. They were in Star City, and he was in the papers on an almost daily basis. He nodded slightly, extending his hand out toward her.

She hesitated for a second then took his hand, shaking it, "I'm- Gabe." Her chest tightened for a second, she hated this, hated not being able to use her own name, but hated herself for picking _his_ name as her own, because every time she said it, it reminded her of everything she had done.

The flash of pain in her eyes as she spoke didn't go unnoticed and he shook her hand in return, studying her for a moment. "Nice to meet you," he said quietly. There was something oddly familiar about the young woman, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. 

Pursing her lips together, she just nodded and wrapped her arms around herself once he let go of her hand, "what are you doing here?"

"Just enjoying the sunset," he said with a slight shrug, looking over the ocean again.

Shrugging softly, Chloe nodded, her eyes going back to the ocean too.

After several long moments in comfortable silence, he glanced at her sideways. "I should be heading back. Are you okay out here by yourself?" he asked uncertainly.

With a nod, she glanced over at him, shifting from foot to foot, "yeah I'm fine, thanks."

Oliver hesitated a moment. "All right. It uh...it was nice meeting you," he told her softly.

"Nice meeting you too," she told him, looking at him for a second, that was as close of a conversation as she had had since she moved to Star City.

He wasn't sure why he was so hesitant to walk away from her. "Maybe I'll see you around here again sometime," he said, offering her a small smile as he tucked his hands into his pockets.

Forcing a smile, she shrugged a shoulder, "I'm sure I'll see you."

He watched her a second longer, then nodded slightly and headed away, wondering why she seemed so familiar to him.

Chloe watched him walk away, chewing on her bottom lip for a second before turning around and starting the walk back to her apartment.

* * *

Oliver parked his car in front of the high school and opened the door, climbing out and grabbing his briefcase from the backseat. He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, wondering what it might have been like to attend public school rather than Excelsior. He had no idea, but it was something he'd thought about on occasion over the years. Smoothing his tie down, he headed for the entrance and stepped inside, glancing around. To the left there was a corridor of lockers that seemed to go on forever, to the right was another corridor, with a sign pointing toward the cafeteria, the gym and the office. He winced as a bell rang loudly right over his head and he headed down the corridor to the right. He strode toward the office, pausing briefly when he caught sight of a familiar figure just outside, sitting in a chair, a book in her hands.

She was in high school?

He hadn't gotten that impression when he'd run into her on the beach a week before. She certainly seemed older than a high schooler.

"Looks like we meet again."

Raising her eyebrows, Chloe looked up and gave him a slight smile, it was good to see a familiar face, well, he wasn't exactly familiar, but it was about as good as it could get, "I guess so."

He smiled back at her. "First day of classes?"

Nodding, she closed the book over her lap, "I guess we can't say the same about you?"

He couldn't help but chuckle at that. "No. Just a meeting, actually." He held his briefcase up a little.

Raising her eyebrows, she shook her head a little, "what about?" She didn't know what it was with billionaires and high school, but there always seemed to be one around.

He shrugged a little. "School board wrote a letter asking for a donation to remodel and update the computer lab and the journalism office."

Pursing her lips together, she raised her eyebrows, "a school that actually cares about the journalism department? That's new."

Oliver paused at that. "Sounds like it's your first year here," he commented.

Shrugging a little, she nodded, sitting back against the chair, "yeah, just transferred."

He smiled faintly. "I think you might be pleasantly surprised. I've heard a lot of good things about this school." He paused. "So you're interested in journalism?"

Considering how to answer that question, she nodded but did her best not to be too enthusiastic about it, she wasn't even sure if joining the school paper would be a good idea, she just didn't know what she was going to do if she _couldn't_ join it, working on the paper would be the only kind of normalcy she would have, "it's interesting enough."

Oliver nodded slightly and started to say something else when a man stepped out of the office.

"Mr. Queen, I didn't realize you were here." He glanced at Chloe, then back at Oliver. "Do come in."

He met the man's gaze, then glanced back down at her once more. "Nice to see you again, Gabe." He smiled. "Good luck," he told her before stepping into the office.

"Nice to see you, Mr. Queen," she said as he walked away, turning back to her book and sighing softly as she waited to talk to the man about her classes. She was actually looking forward to school starting, if nothing else, it would give her something to do, even if Star City High wasn't anything at all like Smallville High, it was much bigger, but more than that, people seemed... younger, more relaxed, carefree. And she knew Smallville was hardly a normal high school, but it was weird to see all those people only worried about their classes or their clothes and not which one of their classmates was going to turn into a meteor freak this week.

It was weird.


	2. Chapter 2

He woke up in the middle of the night with a start, something clicking in his mind. Rolling out of bed, he didn't bother putting on a shirt as he padded out of his bedroom and down the hall to his office, opening the door and flipping the light on. He squinted against the brightness for a couple of moments, but when his vision became normal once more, he moved over to the large bulletin board that was hanging on the wall.

He stared at the headlines, and then at the small color photo of the young woman on the front page of one of the papers he'd tacked on the board.

**17 Year Old Chloe Sullivan and Father Gabe Sullivan Killed in Explosion.**

It was next to another article, one about Lionel Luthor's upcoming murder trial, which Chloe Sullivan was set to testify in.

Oliver rubbed a hand over his face.

Gabe Sullivan.

 _"I'm Gabe."_ She'd told him the night they'd met. 

He exhaled slowly. That explained a hell of a lot. But there was a lot more he didn't know. He quickly booted up his computer and sat down at it, his fingers flying over the keyboard. He typed in the name Chloe Sullivan and over a thousand hits came up. He wasn't surprised by that considering she'd somehow been working against Lionel Luthor. Newspapers around the country had carried the story. 

But a great deal of the hits had nothing to do with Lionel. They were, in fact, articles that Chloe Sullivan herself had written, including some for the Daily Planet in Metropolis. 

Sitting back in his seat, Oliver's eyebrows furrowed as he began to put the pieces together in his mind.

***

She was getting more nervous every time she left the small apartment, she couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched and in the past couple of nights, nightmares of Lionel Luthor finding her happened the second she fell asleep, worse, nightmares of him torturing her dad and Chloe not being able to do anything but watch and cry her apologies. She wasn't sure if the circumstances or her lack of sleep were making her paranoid but she was pretty sure someone was following her, someone so fast, that they were gone every time she looked over her shoulder, but someone that was probably going to get to her before she could stop them.

As she walked back from school, it was getting late already, she had finally given in and joined the school newspaper, she missed being editor and missed the Torch, but the people there were nice enough and the paper was much bigger and even though she didn't have a lot to do, she stayed there until the editor had to leave every day, it was better than being home on her own.

Chloe turned on the street her apartment was at and paused, she had just seen something out of the corner of her eyes, holding on to her books she held her breath and leaned back against the wall, cocking her head slightly and peeking around the corner.

From a few yards away, Oliver's heart quickened in his chest. She'd vanished from his sight. _Shit._ Crossing the street quickly, he made his way toward the building, his body tensing for a possible fight with someone. Because if he knew Lionel Luthor, and he did, it wouldn't take the man long to track her to Star City and send someone after her.

Holding her breath, she didn't move, she saw someone coming in her direction but she could only see part of them, she could see it was a man and he was wearing a suit, reaching into her purse, she picked up her keychain, sliding her keys between her fingers, a trick her cousin had taught her, if she had to punch the guy to get away, she would make sure it hurt, but she wanted to see who it was first.

He rounded the corner against his instincts which were warning him to _be careful_ , but his concern for her safety overrode any concern he may have otherwise had for his own. What he wasn't expecting was to see _her_ standing there. And by the look on her face, he knew he'd been caught. "Hi." His voice was quiet, but calm.

She had been seconds from punching him, keys still on a tight grip, she blinked as she found herself staring at Oliver Queen of all people. Again.

Frowning suspiciously, she cocked her head, eying him, "what are you doing here?"

He'd read enough about Chloe Sullivan to know that nothing short of the truth was going to get him out of this. "Don't suppose you'd believe I was just for a walk?" He smiled faintly.

While her instincts told her he wasn't going to harm her, she couldn't help but be nervous, her stomach tightening as she took a step away from him, "were you following me?"

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said quietly. "But yes, I was following you," he admitted. "I don't suppose we could go somewhere and talk? Somewhere private?" He gazed at her intently.

Chloe hesitated for a moment, her eyes on him, her chest also tight but she nodded, Chloe had read a lot about Oliver and although he was known for being kind of a slut, he had done some great things through his company and she didn't think he was associated with Lionel Luthor, even though she knew he had gone to school with Lex, he just didn't act like one of Lionel's men.

"Over here," she shifted the keys in her hand and turned around, looking around still before walking up the stairs to her apartment and unlocking the front door, once he was inside, she locked the door again and made her way up to the third and top floor of the building.

He followed her silently, glancing around and taking in the rather meager accommodations. He wondered how she was affording even that under the circumstances. When she unlocked her apartment he followed her inside there, as well. The apartment was practically empty. There was something so hollow about the place it almost hurt, and he barely knew her. He offered her a gentle smile. "Thanks for trusting me enough to let me in." He knew that had to be a big step for her alone.

"If you were following me, I figured you probably already knew where I lived anyway," she told him, setting her books on the small counter by the kitchen before turning to face him, arms crossing over her chest.

He nodded slightly, meeting her eyes without hesitation. "I did. But that didn't mean you had to agree," he said quietly.

" _Why_ were you following me?"

Oliver was quiet for a moment. "I know who you are."

She felt her stomach turning instantly and froze, her jaw tightening, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Listen." His voice was soft. "I follow certain news very closely. Especially any that happens to be connected to the _Luthor's_." He could see the fear in her eyes. "I thought you looked familiar that night on the beach. And then when I ran into you again at the school, something clicked. I remembered your picture. But I'm not here to hurt you, Chloe. I want to help."

Despite what he was saying, she stepped away, "how do I know you're not working for him?"

He would have chuckled if he hadn't sensed how frightened she really was. He remained where he was standing, not daring to step closer even as she backed away. "Well, for one, I don't work for anyone but myself. I don't need to, and I have no desire to. And secondly, if I planned to hurt you, I wouldn't have confessed that I knew your real identity in the first place. Last of all...I learned my own lessons about the Luthor family the hard way."

With a deep breath, she watched him, her jaw tight, "and why would you want to help me? What's in it for you?"

Oliver shook his head a little. "Because you seem like you might need a little help," he said quietly. "And I can do that."

" _Why_?" She pressed suspiciously.

He was silent for a moment. "Because I know what it's like to lose everyone you love and have to try and figure it all out alone at a young age," he told her, searching her eyes.

Chloe stopped, her chest tightening again and her eyes getting slightly warmer with unshed tears, with a deep breath she looked away then turned away, rubbing her face.

"I'm sorry about your dad," he whispered. He looked down at the floor for a moment, then pulled a card out of his pocket, slowly moving to stand behind her. "Here."

As she turned around, she looked up at him then down at the card he was holding out to her for a full second before reaching for it and reading it then turning it around, frowning a little as she saw the cellphone number scribbled in the back and looking up at him again, questioningly.

"It's my personal cell," he told her quietly. "I keep it with me all the time, day and night. If you need something, or you just want to talk..." He glanced down at the card. "Just let me know."

After watching him for a second, she looked down at the card again and nodded, "thanks." She told him even though she didn't plan on ever using it. If he had figured things out so easily, Lionel surely wouldn't have a problem with it.

"Sure thing," he said, gazing at her a moment longer, then turning to head for the door. He paused when he reached it and turned to look at her again. "Chloe?"

With her arms crossed tightly over her chest again, she looked over at him.

"There are a lot of good people out there. People who aren't anything like Lionel Luthor." He offered her a sad smile. "Don't give up." Before she had a chance to respond, he was out the door.

Sighing deeply when he closed the door, she walked towards it and for a second, she considered opening it and asking him to come back inside, she was tired of always being alone and having someone who knew the truth and called her by her real name was almost comforting, but instead, she locked the three locks on the door and looked down at the card that was in her hand, pausing for a moment before walking over to her purse, pulling out her wallet and hiding it behind her library card, just in case.

She figured it could come in handy to have the contact information for the most powerful man in the city.

After that, she kicked off her shoes, turned off all the lights and picked up her computer. Sitting on her bed against the headboard, laptop on her lap, she started her research. She had to find out as much about Oliver Queen as she possibly could, if he knew everything about her, it was only safe that she knew, at the very least, as much as he did.


	3. Chapter 3

The air was cooler than usual as he sat on the sandy ground, staring out over the ocean. He watched as the waves rolled in, lapping at the shore as the sun began its slow descent below the horizon. Sunsets never failed to amaze him. Since he was little, he'd enjoyed watching them, first with his mother, and then after his parents had died, by himself. There was something soothing and yet hauntingly lonely about the event.

Oliver exhaled slowly, closing his eyes for a brief moment. The crime rate in Star City had increased in the last few weeks, and he'd been patrolling every night for hours on end. Last night he'd interrupted a robbery at a convenience store, but he'd been too late to stop one of the robbers from shooting a clerk point blank in the face when he'd refused to hand over the money from the register. His shoulders were tense and hunched as he opened his eyes once more, an ill feeling in the pit of his stomach. He didn't get it. He didn't understand why people were so _crazy_. If it would have made any difference, Oliver would have happily handed over his entire bank account to save the guy's life.

Rubbing a hand over his face, he sighed softly, weary from the weight of it all.

Chloe had been on her way back to her apartment when she decided to take the long way and walk by the beach, after school, she had gone around handing out resumes and filling applications, she needed a part-time job at least, even though Lex had paid for two years of rent ahead of time and she had a lot of money from her dad's insurance to pay the bills and buy groceries, she knew it wouldn't last forever, besides, even with the paper and school, she just wasn't busy enough and sitting by herself in her apartment was going to drive her insane and she knew it. She didn't dare getting too close to her friends at school, she hated lying to them constantly, so a job would be the answer.

What she hadn't expected as she walked slowly, watching the sunset, was to see Oliver Queen standing there, like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. It had been about two months since she had last seen him, the day he went over to her apartment and admitted knowing the truth about her. She had never called him, she hadn't seen a reason to, but she had felt his eyes on her ofter and although she never saw him, she knew he was there, making sure she was okay. It was comforting.

Quietly, she got down to the sand after taking her shoes off and made her way over to where he was, "Mr. Queen?"

He started, turning his head to look at her and blinking with surprise when he realized it was her. "Hi," he said, looking up at her from his place on the ground. "Didn't expect to see you here."

"Me neither," she said sincerely, looking down at him, "is everything okay?"

Oliver met her eyes for a moment, then nodded slightly. "Yeah. Long week, I guess. How are you?"

Looking over towards the sea, she nodded a little, "I'm okay."

"Good," he said quietly, nodding as well and looking back over the water.

Pursing her lips together, she nodded a little, shifting her shoes and purse in her hands, he didn't look like he wanted company, "I guess I should go, I'll see you."

"You wanna sit down?" he asked softly, glancing up at her once more.

Chloe paused and looking at him, considering for a moment then shaking her head, "you look like you wanna be alone."

"Actually I don't." He smiled faintly. "But if you need to go, I won't hold it against you."

After a second, she nodded, placing her things on the ground before sitting down next to him.

Oliver smiled at her, then looked out over the ocean. "How are things going?" he asked gently. "School and everything?"

Nodding slightly, she looked at him then out to the ocean too, "it's okay, school is school," she said quietly then glanced at him once more, "how are things with you?"

He turned his head to meet her eyes. "Can't complain." At least not compared to what she'd been going through.

Forcing a smile, she held his gaze for a second then turned to look at the ocean again, "that's good," knowing that he knew everything made her feel almost like she was exposed, she had been pretending to be Gabe, daughter of a busy but strict man, who didn't really want her hanging out with people after school, going to parties or being part of any kind of social situations. And she hated every minute of it. If nothing else because it made her dad out to be a horrible father and even if it was all lies, she hated for anyone to have that kind of image of him. She knew it didn't matter and she often used her uncle Sam as an example to build this imaginary dad, but every second of it felt wrong. At least she didn't have to do that around Oliver, even if she felt exposed and even still a little uncomfortable with the fact that he knew so much, it was at the same time easier than everything else.

He watched her for a moment, then looked out at the ocean again, as well. He'd been keeping an eye on her, both as himself and as Green Arrow. He wasn't even sure _why_ the need to protect her was so strong, but it was. Other than that, though, he'd left her alone. She had his number and hoped that if she needed something, that she knew he'd been serious about her calling him. He wasn't surprised that he hadn't heard from her. Partially because of what she'd been through, he was sure that trusting someone new was incredibly difficult, and because he got the very strong impression that she was independent. Despite that, sitting there beside her, he could practically feel the loneliness and sadness rolling off her in waves. He was fairly certain that most people either ignored that, or simply didn't pick up on it because they hadn't experienced that kind of pain before. "So everything's going all right?" he asked softly.

Wrapping her arms around her legs and pulling them against her chest, she nodded a little, not looking at him, "yeah," her voice was quiet but she glanced at him, "but I'm sure you know that."

He ducked his head a little, a small smile on his lips. "Well. I know you've been safe," he said with a slight shrug. "Beyond that..."

"There's not much to say beyond that." Chloe said quietly.

Oliver turned his head to look at her, his eyes sad. "I'm sorry things are so difficult," he murmured.

Shaking her head, she glanced at him, "it's hardly your fault."

"No, but that doesn't mean I can't empathize," he said quietly.

Sighing softly, she rested her chin over her knees and looked out at the ocean again, quiet for a moment, "I'm sorry about your parents."

"It was a long time ago." He smiled faintly, looking over the water.

With a nod, she hugged her legs tighter, "I'm guessing it never really gets any better?" Of course, at least Oliver wasn't _responsible_ for his parents death, she guessed that made a big difference.

He considered her words for a few moments. "It gets easier. The pain lessens over time. But if you're asking if it ever totally goes away? No," he said softly.

Chloe nodded slightly, "I didn't think so," she said quietly.

Oliver glanced at her. "You don't have to do it by yourself, Chloe."

She paused, not looking at him. The first few weeks had been particularly hard, she had to stop herself from contacting Clark, Pete and Lois several times, telling herself that she would only put their lives in danger if she did and she had caused enough damage already. She missed them and she could only imagine how hard it had been on them to hear about her and her dad and not know details or have been able to help at all, but it was for their own safety.

"It's dangerous to let anyone get too close," she glanced at him, "including you."

A wry smile touched his lips involuntarily and he met her eyes. "Trust me when I say you don't need to worry about me."

Frowning slightly, she shook her head, "it doesn't matter who you are, if he finds out you have anything to do with me..."

"He'll back off," he responded. "Because this is _my_ city. The Luthor's may run Metropolis and even the entire state of Kansas. But here?" He shook his head.

"He's willing to hurt his own son, I don't think geography matters to him."

"Maybe not. But he doesn't want to mess with me, either."

Sighing softly, she looked away again, "I don't want to put anyone else in danger." But at the same time, she was so tired of being on her own.

If she had any idea of the danger he was in on a nightly basis, he had no doubt she'd chuckle at the irony of her statement. He hesitantly reached out and touched her arm. "Chloe."

She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes, unable to stop herself from doing so when he used her real name.

"I can keep you safe," he said quietly. "And you really don't have to worry about me."

"You've been doing more than enough as is." She said quietly, she didn't know if it was him or more likely, someone from his security team, but she knew someone was there to watch her walk to school every morning. 

Oliver studied her for a moment. "Are you scared?"

"Sometimes," she admitted and it was true. But mostly, she was just lonely, she didn't care much about what Lionel did, but she missed the little family she had left and she missed her friends, most of all, she missed her dad. Constantly. If she was honest with herself, she actually missed Smallville. Not because of the town, but because it sounded comforting when everything surrounding her was anything but familiar.

He gave her arm a gentle squeeze before letting his hand fall away from it. "And you're homesick." His voice was quiet.

She was a little surprised that he had guessed it so easily, she couldn't do much more than nod as she kept her teary eyes on the waves, "I just wish I could tell them, let them know I'm okay." 

Oliver hesitated a moment, then shifted closer to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. As much as he wanted to tell her he could help her with that, even he knew that would be a bad idea. It would be too easy for Lionel to find out that she was alive once other people knew the truth. "I know," he murmured.

Surprised once more, she stilled for a second, tensing and then relaxing slightly as she leaned a little closer, "I don't even know if I'll ever be able to see them again," she said quietly, her voice breaking.

Unable to stop himself at the sound of her voice breaking, he slid his other arm around her and pulled her into an actual hug. "I wish there was something I could do about that, Chloe. I really do."

Closing her eyes, she leaned even closer, letting him hug her as she still hugged her legs, "thank you," she whispered. She couldn't understand why he had been watching over her, couldn't understand why he had given her his cellphone, she definitely couldn't understand why he seemed to care, but she wasn't going to try to figure it out just yet.

"You're welcome," he whispered back, just holding her as he stared out over the ocean.

After a long moment, she lifted a hand to wipe her face and glanced over at him, embarrassed, "sorry."

"Don't be." He met her eyes and offered her a gentle smile.

Chloe watched him for a second, "why are you helping me?" She had asked him a similar question before, but this time, she wasn't suspicious of anything, she was just curious and grateful that he was.

Oliver shook his head a little. "I haven't really done anything," he told her quietly.

"You're looking after me and you know everything and yet you are okay with sitting here with me."

His eyebrows furrowed a little. "Is there a reason I shouldn't be?" he asked uncertainly, confused.

She just shrugged slightly, "I know you're not afraid of Lionel but still, most people wouldn't want to get involved in this mess."

"I'm not most people."

"I figured that much," there was a hint of a smile on her lips.

Oliver smiled back at her. "Have you had dinner?" he asked. Frankly he didn't know if she even had food in her apartment.

Chloe just shook her head.

"Well. Are you hungry?" He cocked his head and looked at her thoughtfully.

With a deep breath, she considered his question, it sounded like she wasn't going to be getting rid of him anytime soon and a dinner that didn't involve cereal or microwavable food sounded good, "I could eat."

He smiled and stood up slowly, holding his hand down to help her up, as well. "How's Chinese sound?"

Taking his hand, she stood and brushed the sand from her clothes before reaching for her shoes and purse, "sounds good."

Oliver nodded a little, giving her hand a gentle squeeze before letting go. "Would you feel more comfortable at your place or would you be all right with mine?"

Shaking her head a little, she shrugged, "as long as you give me a ride back."

"I think I can manage that," he teased lightly, glancing at her sideways as they walked up the beach.

Chloe was glad he had agreed, she hadn't been to anyone else's house since she'd gotten to the city and she had spent far too much time in the small apartment, going somewhere different should be nice, "you don't live at the Queen Mansion, do you?"

"No. I've got an apartment at Queen Tower," he told her with a small smile, not surprised that she knew that much about him.

Shrugging a shoulder, she eyed him, "are you constantly working, then?"

"Well, I'm not working right now." He grinned.

"When you're at home, I mean," she said, rolling her eyes.

Oliver chuckled softly. "A lot of the time, yeah. But not constantly, no."

Chloe shook her head a little, smiling slightly at him, "I can imagine all the suck ups that stay at work until you get home just to see you on the elevator and show how committed to the company they are."

He arched an eyebrow. "Fewer than you probably think."

"It must kinda suck to work in the same place your boss lives," she told him with the raise of an eyebrow.

"Well, personally I hope I don't come across as _that_ kind of boss." He frowned a little.

Shrugging a little, she smiled softly at him, "I don't think you do, you're young and not cranky and irritable."

"I have my moments." He couldn't help but smile back.

"We all do," shrugging a shoulder, she raised one eyebrow.

Oliver nodded. "I have it on good authority that 'cranky and irritable' are normal human qualities on occasion."

"And you consider yourself a 'normal human', right?" Chloe pretended to be joking, but you just never knew, with all the meteor freaks she had met.

"For the most part. Except that whole 'better-looking than other guys' part." His voice was teasing.

She couldn't help but grin softly at that, "I heard rumors about your exceptionally large ego."

"Oh, those aren't rumors. Those are all true." He grinned back at her. "Although I will state for the record that I have never slept with Tori Spelling. She's not my type, and she's rude. That _was_ just a rumor."

"Glad to hear it, I probably wouldn't wanna be anywhere near you if you had."

"And that would be very sad." He smiled at her and opened the passenger side door of his car so she could get in.

"Thank you," she told him as she got in the car and waited for him to do the same.

He nodded and climbed into the driver's seat a moment later, fastening his seatbelt and starting the engine. "What do you think of Star City?" he asked curiously, glancing at her as he put the car into gear.

"I like it," she told him, watching the city as he started driving, "I haven't seen a lot of it yet, but it's nice, it's not as big as Metropolis but it's a lot bigger than Smallville and I like having the beach, sometimes I can hear the ocean from my apartment at night, when it's really quiet."

He smiled faintly. "Yeah, that part's soothing," he murmured.

"Can you hear it from your place?"

"Sometimes," he said with a slight nod. "But not usually." He motioned toward the tower. "I blame it on living in downtown."

Leaning forward, she looked up at the building, "yeah, but it makes life easier."

"I suppose so." Oliver glanced at her sideways.

Eyes still on the buildings, she shrugged, "I've always wanted to live in downtown Metropolis, in a place where I could see the Planet globe from my window."

A small smile touched his lips and he glanced in the rearview mirror, then switched lanes. "Well. It's not the Daily Planet, but..." He turned onto a different street and nodded toward the Star City Gazette.

Chloe smiled a little, turning her head and recognizing the logo instantly, "they've moved up, they are the 4th most sold newspaper now."

Oliver glanced at her for a moment, then up at the building. "If you ever want to take a tour of it..."

Squinting a little, she finally turned to look at him, "you don't own it, do you?"

He blinked. "No, I don't. But I do know the editor."

"I didn't think so," she relaxed a little, knowing she hadn't missed that important detail.

A wry smile touched his lips. "Did your homework, huh?"

"Couldn't fall behind," she told him with a raise of eyebrows.

Oliver glanced at her with a grin. "I suppose not."

Smiling slightly, she nodded at him, "now we're even."

"Fair enough."

With a nod, Chloe shrugged a shoulder, "so you lived here your whole life, any Star City secrets I should know about?"

"Secrets about Star City? Or about me?" he asked with faint amusement.

"Both, if you're willing to share?"

Oliver glanced at her sideways. Really, he supposed it was only fair considering just how much he knew about her. "All right. As far as the city goes, there's a gem of a restaurant on 23rd and Wyckles Road. It's not well-advertised, but it's the best food in the city. At least it is if you like Mexican." He smiled.

Nodding, she raised her eyebrows, "Mexican is good, considering Smallville was limited to two restaurants, I'm okay with some variety."

"What kind of restaurants?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he drove them toward Queen Tower.

She looked out the window, watching the city, "an Italian restaurant with surprisingly good pizza and just a american style, you know, burgers and chicken fried steak and things like that," with a sad smile on her face she glanced at him, "my dad really liked it."

Oliver glanced back at her, fully understanding the sadness. "Tell me about him?" His voice was soft.

With a deep breath, she looked out the window on her side again, "he was just a really nice guy, everything was just always good with him, he was kinda dorky and he really liked his puns," she smiled a little, brushing a tear from her face, "sometimes they were really bad and he knew it, but he was okay with it," she sniffed quietly, "he raised me on his own since I was five and he was the best mom and dad package, even with the whole Lionel thing, he was always just really supportive of everything I did and he knew I was doing it because I thought it was right."

A sad smile touched his lips. "He sounds like he was a great man," he said quietly, noting the fact that she'd been in a single-parent home for most of her life and briefly wondering about her mom, and if she had died.

Chloe just nodded and was quiet for a moment, "he was amazing," she said quietly, her face falling as she started feeling the usual guilty that came with thoughts of her dad and how if it wasn't for her, he'd still be there.

Oliver glanced at her. "And he raised one hell of a strong young woman for a daughter."

She glanced back at him and forced a smile on her lips.

He met her eyes for a moment before he had to look back at the road. "Even if you don't feel like that's true right now," he added quietly.

Nodding again, she kept her eyes out the window, strong was the last thing she felt. Mostly she felt guilty and like she had failed her dad, failed to protect him from the mess she had gotten herself into.

He wanted to say something else, do something--anything--to get her mind off where the conversation had taken them. So as he pulled his car into the parking garage beneath Queen Tower, he offered her a smile. "So, I was thinking. How do you feel about movies?"

Once they were in the garage, she turned to look at him, "you'll probably have to be more specific than that."

He grinned. "What kind of movies do you like to watch?" 

Chloe shrugged a shoulder, "I'll watch pretty much anything, I usually go for horror/mystery kind of movies, even if it's bad horror that is just fun to watch."

Oliver nodded a little at that. He couldn't remember the last time he'd _seen_ a movie. He'd been so busy between Queen Industries and his Green Arrow duties, he hadn't allowed himself the break from reality. But if it would help get her mind off all the bad things for awhile, then it was a perfectly valid excuse to watch a movie in his opinion. He turned the car off and smiled at her. "It's Friday. Did you have other plans for the evening?"

Shaking her head, she picked her purse up from the floor, "not really, but I'm surprised you don't have other plans."

"Well, I could put in another few hours at the office, but I'd rather not."

Raising her eyebrows, she cocked her head a little, "no parties, or events to attend?"

Oliver winced a little but offered her a small smile. "Even billionaire playboys need a night off sometimes."

With a nod, she smiled a little, "and you are wasting your night off on me?"

"Hardly a waste," he responded with a real smile this time.

"Thanks for inviting me," she said sincerely, her eyes on him as she spoke, "it's nice to be around someone and not have to pretend to be someone else."

He nodded a little, wondering what that would be like. "You're welcome. And anytime you're up for company, all you have to do is let me know." His voice was quiet, serious. Having someone around who really didn't _want_ anything from him was a nice change.

"Thanks," she repeated and nodded, "you too," not that she could think of a reason why Oliver Queen would want to hang out with a seventeen, almost eighteen, year old.

A small smile touched his lips. "Appreciated."

Chloe finally got out of the car and waited for him to do the same then followed him towards the elevators, "what kind of movies do you like?"

"I'll watch anything. I'm not picky," he told her with a slight shrug. "I don't watch movies very often though."

"I don't either," she admitted as they stepped into the elevator, Clark and Pete usually watched TV for hours and although she could enjoy that every now and then, she usually rather be doing something a little more interactive.

He smiled at her and pressed the button that led to his apartment, stepping forward and letting it scan his features.

"Twenty-fourth floor approved."

Chloe raised her eyebrows a little and watched him, "so unless someone has an Oliver Queen mask, they can't get into your place?"

He chuckled at that. "There are a couple of other people who have access to my apartment, but they're pretty few and far between," he admitted, glancing at her sideways.

"Oh," she nodded, raising her eyebrows and stopping herself from asking who, it really wasn't any of her business, not yet anyway, maybe she'd ask once she got to know him better, "I guess you kinda have to keep a tight security."

He nodded slightly. "Yeah, I guess you could say I've made some enemies over the years."

"I guess someone in your position, it would be impossible not to have enemies."  
Oliver smiled faintly. "You're not wrong." And even if she might not be fully aware of it, they shared a common enemy.

Chloe leaned against the elevator wall as it went to the top floor and nodded at him, "anyone in particular?" This wasn't about his love life so she felt like she wouldn't be intruding nearly as much if she asked.

He was quiet for a moment and he turned his head to look at her silently.

Raising her eyebrows, her eyes widened slightly. He didn't have to speak the name for her to understand he was talking about Lionel. And it finally made sense to her why he had been trying to help and protect her since he found out the truth. The enemy of his enemy...

"What did he do to you?"

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "I'm sure you read about my two year, unplanned vacation?"

Frowning, she nodded, watching him. It must have been awful to be strained on that island for two years, with no way of getting out, no way of asking for help, "did he do that to you?"

"Not that I know of," he said, glancing at her again. "But while I was...away..." He grimaced a little. "He attempted a hostile takeover of my company." He shrugged a little. It wasn't anything really, not compared to what Lionel had done to _her_. But his company was his last real connection to his parents, especially to his father. And he'd despised Lionel long before that anyway.

Chloe narrowed her eyes slightly, "I'm not surprised that there is no record left of that," she told him, she had done a pretty extensive research on Oliver and although she had read about failed attempts of business between LuthorCorp and Queen Industries, there was no mention of that particular scenario.

"Yeah, it's not exactly good for business when you're known for attempting hostile takeover of a guy who turns out to be alive after all." There was a hint of bitterness in his tone.

"I'm sure he was disappointed to know you were back." She said with a roll of her eyes, looking at the elevator doors as they slid open.

"Oh, he was," he agreed, stepping out of the elevator and into his apartment. "He wasn't happy at all."

Chloe looked around the beautiful yet very minimalistic apartment, there wasn't a lot of furniture and everything seemed to have a very specific place where it should be, "good," she told him, commenting on Lionel.

"Except when Lionel doesn't get what he wants, it's like encountering a viper that's been backed into a corner," he said quietly, his tone cryptic. "You want something to drink?"

"Just water," she answered with a frown, "and what exactly do you mean by that? What happened?"

Oliver headed into the kitchen, glancing at her over his shoulder and watching as she followed him. He pulled a bottle of water from the fridge and held it out to her. "Well, I don't think it's some big coincidence that after I got back and stopped him from taking over Queen Industries, that my girlfriend and I were nearly run over leaving a restaurant one night. Or getting shot at a couple nights after that."

Raising her eyebrows at the mention of a girlfriend, Chloe just watched him, she didn't know Oliver Queen did monogamous relationships but apparently there was a lot about him that she hadn't been able to find out through her research and she had purposefully avoided tabloids, "that does sound like his style."

He nodded slightly, leaning back against the counter. "Yeah. That's what I thought, too."

"So you had dealt with him before this?" She sipped on the water he had handed her and watched him.

He grew quiet. "Not so much Lionel as his son, but yes."

"You had problems with Lex?" There was surprise in her voice, even though she knew Lex was hardly innocent, she also had grown to trust him. He had, after all, promised her to keep her safe and so far, he had kept his promise.

"It was a long time ago," he murmured, troubled.

"When you were in school?" That much her research had told her.

He nodded silently, opening the fridge again and taking out a bottle of water for himself.

Chloe frowned slowly and just watched him for a long moment, wondering what could have happened when they were in school that still seemed to bother Oliver even so many years later, but for once, she didn't push. She didn't want to ruin the closest thing she had to an actual friendship, "should we order food, then?"

Oliver drew in a breath, blinking a few times to pull himself out of his memories of days long since past. "Yeah. What kind of Chinese food do you like best?" he asked, offering her a smile as he moved to grab the phone book.

"I usually go for the chicken lo mein, but if you have any suggestions, I'm open to them." She told him, leaning sideways against the wall.

He paused, glancing at her with a surprised smile. "That's actually my favorite, too."

"Good to know, that probably means they have a good on at this place?" Chloe smiled softly at him.

"Yeah, the best," he told her, meeting her eyes and smiling back.

Holding his gaze, she nodded and raised an eyebrow, "sounds good to me, then. So far, you have good taste."

Oliver grinned. "I like to think so." He winked at her, then turned to the phone book, dialing the number for the restaurant and ordering their food.

As he ordered, Chloe took her time to look around the living room and dining room areas. The apartment was huge since it took a whole floor of the building and although it looked almost sterile, it didn't feel uncomfortable, it wasn't the most welcoming home she had ever been in, but it was spacious and clean. It was more homey than her current apartment anyway.

He hung up the phone a moment later, watching her as she walked around, looking at things curiously. He slowly moved to the living room and took a seat on the sofa. "Food will be here in about forty-five minutes," he told her.

She turned around to face him after a moment and nodded, walking towards the couch and sitting down too, not exactly on the opposite end but not necessarily next to him either, "that's better than the place near me, took them an hour and half the other night and they are only a block away."

Oliver frowned a little. "About your place. Do you feel safe there?" he asked.

Chloe considered for a moment and shrugged, "it's not bad, I try not to talk to my neighbors in case they ask too many questions, but I guess at least there are other people around."

He nodded slightly. Her place was on the opposite end of town as his, and it wasn't the best of neighborhoods. So in addition to being in danger from Lionel Luthor, he was also concerned about her safety in general.

"It's close enough to walk to school, so it's not bad." She concluded, shrugging a little.

"All right." He smiled. As long as she felt safe, he wasn't going to try and make her feel differently.

Returning his smile, she looked around again, "so you've lived in this apartment for a while, right?"

He nodded a little. "Yeah, why?"

She shrugged and turned to look at him again, "it just looks... new and clean, I don't know, too well kept for someone to actually live in it, if that makes sense."

"Oh." Oliver smiled a bit. "Well, I do spend a lot of time at my office. And traveling for meetings and things."

"I guess that makes sense, still, you must be a lot more organized than I am."

"I don't know about that. You haven't seen my office," he joked.

"We must be the opposite then," she smirked slightly, "I'm only organized when it comes to research and well... journalism-related things."

Oliver smirked back at her. "Maybe I should hire you as a personal assistant."

"I _am_ looking for a job," she smirked a little more, "although I'm not sure how good I would be at organizing someone else's life."

He paused at that, cocking his head to the side and studying her. "You want to give it a try?"

Blinking, she looked at him with wide eyes, "are you serious? I mean, don't you already have one of those?"

"Well, I did. She actually put in her two weeks notice a week and a half ago," he told her with a slight shrug. "She's getting married and moving to South Carolina."

She watched him for a moment, "I have school, though, and I can work more than part-time, but, would that be enough for you?"

He nodded slightly after considering it for a moment. "I think we can work with that, yeah."

Raising her eyebrows, she nodded slowly, not really believing he was serious, "I guess we can give it a try as long as you promise you will hire someone else if I'm not around enough or I'm not really personal assistant material."

"Deal." He held his hand out to her, a smile on his face.

Smiling slowly, she took his hand and shook it, "deal." She had never imagined she would be someone's personal assistance, but at least she didn't have to lie to Oliver and worry about not making friends in her work environment.


	4. Chapter 4

For the first time in a while, she was nervous. Well, she was _good_ nervous. Anxious. Kinda excited, but still nervous. And for the first time in months, her nervousness and the knots in her stomach had nothing to do with Lionel Luthor.

After school, she had made her way to the apartment, changed into the most appropriate work clothes she could find and had taken a cab to the Queen Industries towers on the other side of the city. If this whole thing worked out, she would _have_ to invest on a car. But that was something to worry about later, for now, she had to focus on her first day working as Oliver Queen's new personal assistant.

As she walked into the building, she checked herself on the glass doors, smoothing her hands over her shirt before making her way towards the elevator. Just the past weekend, Oliver had asked her if she wanted to give this a try, and since she had been looking for a job anyway and she'd rather stay away from serving coffee, food or retail work, she figured this would be worth a try. Her only real job before had been at the Planet, but even then, that had been an internship, sure she had her work at the Torch and she had made some money writing articles for the Smallville Ledger but still, this was different and much more nerve-wracking than sitting behind a computer and writing a story.

With a deep breath, she straightened her posture as the elevator doors opened and stepped out of it.

A woman with dark hair looked up as the elevator opened and smiled. "Hi there. What can I do for you?" she asked.

Chloe smiled at the woman, doing her best not to show any signs of the nervousness she felt, "I'm Gabriella Adams. I start here today." Even after all these months, the name sounded foreign to her, like someone else entirely and she knew that's exactly what it was supposed to be, but she didn't even feel like herself when she used it to introduce herself to someone new.

At that, the woman's smile widened. "Gabriella, so nice to meet you. I'm Rachel." She rose from her seat. "Oliver told me you'd be starting today. I'm so glad he found someone. I felt bad leaving him in a bind." She extended her hand.

Shaking the woman's hand, she returned the smile with a wider one of her own, she was afraid the woman would be staring her down and questioning her ability to be able to do the work, but instead, she seemed really nice, "I'll do my best to keep up the amazing work he told me you were doing."

Rachel grinned. "You'll do great, don't worry. This is probably the best job a person could ask for, really." She moved around the desk.

"I hope so," Chloe adjusted her purse over her shoulder and watched Rachel, nodding, "he told me you would be showing me around."

She nodded slightly. "I'll give you a tour of your office, Ollie's office, and the rest of the floor. He'll show you the rest of the company himself later." She smiled, studying Chloe. "Are you nervous?"

"That obvious, huh?" She smiled softly and shrugged her shoulders, "I know Oliver is a great guy, I just never even considered being someone's personal assistant before."

"I was terrified my first day, so it was a guess." Rachel smiled back. "But you're right. Oliver's great. I don't think I could have gotten luckier as far as jobs go. If it wasn't for the fact Mark's family is in South Carolina, I'd insist on staying here." She linked her arm through Chloe's and showed her around as promised, then motioned for her to have a seat behind the desk. "How are you with computers?"

After placing her purse on the desk, Chloe took the seat and nodded, "I'd say computers are my best friends, but then I'd probably sound sad and pathetic, so I will just tell you I'm pretty good with them," during the short tour, the older woman had managed to help Chloe relax a little, telling her a couple of stories about how Oliver had rescued her from really annoying business partners.

Rachel grinned. "Then this will be a piece of cake." She frowned. "Now I want cake." Shaking her head, she took Chloe through the programs that she'd be using, most of which Chloe was already familiar with. "So what do you think, Gabriella?" she asked as she finished up.

"If it's all you're telling me, it should be okay," Chloe looked up at her and smiled, "I think I can handle it."

"I have no doubt," she agreed with a nod, leaning back in her chair. She studied her for a moment. "Plus he pays really well, and there are benefits." She paused. "And if you ever have a jerk of an ex-boyfriend harassing you--and by harassing, I mean _stalking_ and attempting to assault you in the parking lot--well. I hope you never have that lovely experience, but if you do, he won't be harassing you for long."

Raising her eyebrows, she leaned forward, "let me guess, Oliver played the hero and the guy never bothered you again?" Because even though she didn't personally know Oliver all that well, he had been watching over her for months now and she didn't even work for him before.

"The police _still_ haven't found the body." She grinned. "Kidding, of course. But basically. I don't know what Ollie said to him, but Larry left town the next day and i haven't heard from him since."

Her eyes widened for just a second then she relaxed, smiling, "glad to hear his methods are effective." Because Chloe just might need them eventually, "so when are you moving?"

"In three days. I'm so nervous." She blew out a breath. "Nothing like moving across country to throw a wrench into your life," she said wryly.

"You'll be fine." Oliver's voice was quiet but reassuring as he stepped into the room, offering both of them a smile. "Granted, the weather there's not nearly as nice as it is here in California, but it'll be fine."

Rachel smiled up at him. "Yeah, yeah."

Chloe smiled when she saw Oliver too then turned to Rachel, "besides, if you are moving there for his family now, you can always use it against him in the future and get him to move back here for you since this marriage thing is supposed to be about compromising and all."

Oliver chuckled at that.

Rachel beamed at her. "That's the plan, but neither of you heard that."

Pursing her lips together, Chloe nodded, "heard what?"

She looked at Oliver. "She's definitely a keeper."

He smiled, his eyes bright with amusement. "Glad the two of you hit it off so well."

Chloe grinned softly and looked from Rachel to Oliver and shrugged a little.

"Peas in a pod," Rachel said with a grin.

"And the world just became a scarier place," he teased.

She picked up a wad of paper and threw it at him.

He chuckled and caught it easily. "Violent, Rachel."

"Throw things at boss," Chloe nodded, mock squinting as she pretended to make a mental note, "got it."

Rachel nodded her approval. "Daily. Gotta keep the guy in line."

Shaking his head, Oliver moved toward the door that led to his office. "Don't listen to anything she says about me, Gabriella." It felt weird to call her that.

Her eyes widened for just a second and she was relieved when he called her by the other name, even if it felt off coming from him, it was something they would have to keep up while in public, "you told me she would teach me everything I needed to know, I think that includes Oliver Queen trivia."

Oliver laughed softly, shaking his head again as he disappeared into his office.

Rachel grinned at her. "It's totally relaxed here." She leaned in closer to Chloe. "And he even makes coffee every morning. It's like he works for _me_." She spoke just loud enough that Oliver could hear her.

"And if I have a moment of panic and can't figure something out, would you mind me giving you a call?" At least computer-wise, Chloe knew she would be fine, but just in case, it was good to have a back-up plan.

"Absolutely. I'll leave you with my cell phone, home phone, and email address in case you need any of it. But don't worry. It'll all be fine," Rachel assured her.

"Thank you," she told her, a little relieved, "I promise I won't bother you unless it's necessary."

She smiled. "I'm actually more sad that I'm leaving. I think we could be good friends. So you're welcome to bother me whenever."

"I think so too," Chloe said sincerely with a smile, she could see herself becoming friends with the other woman, but it was probably better that she was leaving so Chloe didn't have to push her away and keep her at a safe distance, in fact, it was _because_ the woman was leaving that Chloe had allowed herself to relax and just be herself around her, it was nice to know she could still act normal if she wanted to, that she hadn't lost herself while pretending to be someone else for all those months.

Rachel reached over and picked up her purse. "Well, I'm sure I'll be back to visit."

"You'd better be," Oliver called from his office, causing her to grin brightly.

"See? He won't be able to live without you after a few days, guaranteed." She smirked and rose to her feet. "Ollie, I'm heading home!"

"All right. See you in the morning." He appeared in the office doorway once more, smiling warmly.

"It was great meeting you. I'll see you tomorrow." She smiled at Chloe.

"I'll see you tomorrow, thanks for your help and good luck with the packing," Chloe said as she stood up, smiling back at the woman.

"Thanks, I'll need it." She grinned and headed out the door with a wave.

Waving back, Chloe turned back to Oliver and smiled at him, shrugging, "if it's as easy as she made it sound, I think I'll be okay."

He smiled at her. "Of course you will," he said without any doubt in his tone.

With a deep breath, she watched him and shrugged, "thanks again, Oliver, and thanks for taking care of the paperwork stuff."

Oliver met her eyes, nodding slightly. "Gotta admit, it's weird not to call you Chloe." His voice grew very quiet. There was no one else around, but he wasn't taking any chances.

Making a face, she nodded at him, "I know, it's weird to have to answer to anything else, it still takes me a while to realize someone is calling me when they use 'Miss Adams'."

"I bet," he said quietly.

"I guess we'll have to get used to you using it when someone else is around, especially over the intercom."

He could hear the slight trepidation in her voice and he slowly moved over to sit down beside her. "I won't blow your cover," he promised quietly. "Your secret's safe with me."

"I know," she told him quietly, if he hadn't done anything to expose her in the months that he knew about her and she chose not to contact him, she knew he wasn't going to expose her, at least not willingly, she felt like it was only fair to try and have some faith on him, "I'm not worried about that."

Oliver smiled softly. "Good," he said quietly.

She smiled softly back at him, "anything I should be working on?"

"Nothing specific. Just acclimate yourself to the office. Feel free to ask any questions that come to mind." He rose to his feet again.

"I will, thanks," she told him, watching him as he got up.

He smiled at her. "There's fresh coffee brewing in my office if you're interested."

Chloe nodded, raising her eyebrows, "I'm always interested in coffee."

Oliver smirked. "I'd heard that about journalists." Amused, he headed into his office.

Smirking a little, she got up and followed him into his office, "are you saying I'm a cliche?"

"I would never say such a thing," he said, grinning as he sat down at his desk, nodding toward the coffee machine in the corner.

She glanced at him then turned over to the coffee maker, picking up a mug and filling it, "do you want some?" She figured if she was his assistant now, she would have to at least serve _him_ coffee.

"I don't actually drink coffee," he admitted with a grin. "At least not very often. But thanks."

Raising her eyebrows, she turned to look at him, "so this coffee maker is for my benefit?"

"Basically." He smiled.

"I like this job a lot already," she told him with a smile before turning back and adding sugar and cream to her coffee.

He chuckled. "Good to know. I'll make sure to keep the coffee supply stocked."

With her mug in hand, Chloe nodded at him, "I'll let you get back to work," she told him before making her way out of the room, she hadn't had to do anything yet and she didn't know what it would be like when she had to talk to his business associates and everything, but she was pretty sure she could handle it.


	5. Chapter 5

He stood on the rooftop of the Star City Gazette, looking out over the city below. The last couple of nights had actually been fairly quiet in terms of patrolling. One attempted mugging, and a woman who'd slipped and fallen on the sidewalk when her heel had gotten caught in a crack. Luckily neither had resulted in injuries of any kind, and he'd actually managed to catch a few hours of extra sleep.

But something told him tonight wasn't going to be so quiet. It was just something he could feel in his gut.

And he'd learned awhile back to trust that instinct.

***

Chloe hadn't noticed the time until it was past midnight and she was _still_ at work. Oliver had told her to go home around eight, when he had left for a dinner/business meeting and she meant to finish up what she was doing and leave but after updating his schedule, she had gotten started on her homework and time had just gone by.

And of course, she had missed the last bus that went to her apartment and was now stuck trying to find a cab, but of course it was a Friday night and they were all around the clubs and not in the business district. With a sigh, she shifted her purse over her shoulder and started walking towards her apartment. It would take her some time, but at least Star City wasn't that big.

"Awfully late to be walking alone," a man said as he stepped out of the alley and in front of her, smirking.

She held her breath but didn't stop, walking around the man instead, "yeah, well you're doing the same."

"I'm not exactly alone." He followed her, two more men coming up on her other side.

"So you need an entire entourage to bully someone my size? How sad of you." Her heart was beating fast, "all I have is fifteen dollars."

He grinned, taking hold of her arm. "We're not interested in your _money_." He pulled her into the alley.

"Yeah, we just want to have a little fun." One of the other men smirked, his gaze sweeping over her.

Chloe tried to pull her arm away but his grip on her just tightened, "I'm not interested in anything with _you_."

"Well, that's a shame," he said, yanking her farther down the alley where they were out of sight from the street. He smirked at her as his buddies advanced, the three of them backing her up against the brick wall.

"If you weren't interested, you wouldn't be out walking alone this late at night, lady." The other man reached out and touched her cheek, a twisted smile on his face.

Holding her breath, she started kicking them everywhere she could, "let go of me."

"Feisty. I like that." Without warning, the man grabbed hold of her legs, yanking them from beneath her and causing her to hit the pavement.

One of the other two quickly knelt down, pinning her arms above her head.

She gasped, wincing as she hit the floor hard but still doing her best to kick her legs and try to free her arms, "HELP!" She yelled as loudly as possible.

"Lady, there's no one coming to your rescue. People in this city don't care about anyone but themselves." He smirked and reached down, yanking her shirt hard enough that it ripped.

"I care."

The three men all looked up toward the sound of the voice but saw no one.

"And I'd advise getting your hands off her." The voice was distorted, but it didn't disguise the anger in the person's tone.

Chloe took the opportunity to pull her shirt closed and sit up quickly, looking in the direction of the voice but not being able to see anything in the darkness.

"Is it him?" one of them muttered, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

"If it is, he won't last long." One of the others pulled out a gun, aiming it at Chloe's head. "No one told you to move, bitch."

She wasn't stupid, as much as she wanted to kick the guy and get up, she didn't move as he pointed the gun at her, but she knew the three men were wondering the same thing she was. If her rescuer was the man the tabloids kept talking about, the Star City vigilante.

Before any of them could so much as make another move, three arrows flew, one piercing the man's hand and causing the gun to fall to the pavement loudly. He screamed loudly in pain as the other two were pinned against the wall by their clothing.

"Someone needs to teach you boys some manners." He dropped soundlessly to the ground behind Chloe, picking up the gun. "And that it's not safe to play with guns."

Chloe blinked and stood quickly, turning around and looking at the hooded man, her eyes wide. It _was_ him.

"You all right, Miss?" he asked, looking her over for signs of injuries.

She nodded, doing her best to hold her shirt closed as she reached inside her purse for her phone, "thank you," she told the man, looking up at him.

He held her gaze even though she couldn't tell it from the dark glasses he wore, and nodded slightly. He glanced at the three incapacitated men, then back at her. He couldn't just _leave_ her there. "Why don't I give you a lift after you call the police?"

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded even as she called 911, her eyes on him as she spoke to the police over the phone for a moment, answering all their questions before hanging up, "they should be here soon."

He nodded once more, then moved closer to her, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Hold on," he said, aiming toward the roof with a grapple hook from his crossbow.

Her eyes widened and she held on to him, looking up as the grapple hook went all the way up to the roof then looking back at him, wondering if he was really just about to do what she thought he was going to.

He flashed her a grin and then they were soaring up into the air, adrenaline rushing through his veins at the feeling. When they were safely on the roof, he let go of her, stepping away and looking out across the city. "Where do you live?" he asked, knowing he needed to pretend he didn't know so as not to gain her suspicion.

Chloe held her breath and looked down at the street too then back at him, "52nd Street, near the high school."

"You're a long way from home," he remarked.

"I couldn't find a cab," she turned to look at him again, "you're the vigilante, the one everyone is talking about."

He shrugged at that. "You shouldn't be out so late by yourself. City's not that safe of a place."

"I didn't notice the time, I was at work," she told him, "do you do this every night?"

"Your boss makes you work this late?" He countered.

"If you expect me to answer your questions, don't you think it's only fair if you answer mine too?"

He fought to hold back a grin. "I just saved your life. I'd say that means I can forgo answering too many questions."

Cocking her head, she considered for a moment, "I don't see how my boss' demands would be relevant, besides, I'm not asking you for your real identity."

"So your boss is demanding?" he couldn't help but ask, an amused smile tugging involuntarily at his lips.

"I never said that."

"Not every night," he told her. "Just most."

Smirking slowly, she nodded at him, "he's not demanding, he told me to go home four hours ago, but I got caught up doing homework," she told him.

"Sounds like a smart guy. You should listen to him."

Shaking her head, she smirked, "if I had, I wouldn't have met you and I have to say, it's much more interesting to know that the legend of Star City is actually real."

"Even though you could have been killed?" He frowned.

"I don't have a death wish," she told him, "but it could have been worse and at least this made my night more interesting."

He studied her for a moment. "We should get you home."

Chloe nodded a little and shrugged, watching him closely, "how are we getting there?"

He smirked. "What? You don't want to go swinging through the air all the way home?"

"Doesn't that hurt your arms?"

"Not really," he said honestly. "But I do have a bike."

"I don't mind going this way if it doesn't bother you." Chloe couldn't help but chew on the inside of her lip as she watched him, impressive didn't sound like enough to describe him, the guy was a vigilante, he was obviously incredibly strong, not to mention what she could see, he was _hot_.

"It doesn't bother me, but the bike is safer," he told her, looking down at the street below, and then over to the roof across the street. "It's in an alley across the street."

"Okay," she had to admit she was a little disappointed but she stepped closer to him anyway.

He heard the disappointment in her tone, faint as it was, and couldn't help but be amused. He slid an arm around her once more even as the wail of sirens in the distance indicated the police were coming for the three men he'd stopped moments ago. "Ready?" he asked, aiming his crossbow at the much higher rooftop across the street.

She looked in the direction of the sirens for a moment before awkwardly wrapping her arms around his neck, "ready."

He glanced at her for a moment, then fired his bow, letting it propel them off the roof and holding onto her tightly as they swung down to the ground, landing just feet away from his motorcycle. He released her, then moved over to it, picking up his helmet and handing it to her.

Chloe looked down at the bike and ran her hands through her hairs once he let go of her before taking the helmet from him, "thanks."

"Welcome." He watched as she slid the helmet on, then he climbed onto the bike, glancing at her over his shoulder.

She climbed behind him and after securing her purse to her side, she wrapped her arms around his waist.

Once he was sure she was secured behind him, he started the bike, revved the engine with a smirk and peeled out of the alley, zipping through the streets with quick ease. Ten minutes later, he pulled up at her apartment building, shutting off the bike once more.

Frowning as he pulled up right in front of her building when she had only told him the street she lived on, Chloe climbed off of the bike and took her helmet off, looking at him suspiciously, "how did you know I lived here?"

He shrugged even as he realized the possible gravity of his mistake. "I'm a good guesser."

She narrowed her eyes, holding out the helmet to him, "this is a long street, no one is that good a guesser."

He smirked at her, taking the helmet from her. "Better get inside, Miss."

Chloe's stomach was suddenly turning and she was nervous, the smirk on his face didn't help because there was something familiar about it and familiar wasn't good. She reached for her keys inside her pursed and rushed up the stairs, opening it quickly before walking inside and locking it behind herself.

She was going to have to move.

He blinked, surprised by the sudden fear he saw on her face. _Shit_ , he thought, frowning deeply.


	6. Chapter 6

It had been a long night. She had spent it with her phone on her lap as she sat on her bed and looked out the window, waiting for Lionel or one of his men to show up to kill her, she didn't know what good the phone would do if she did see them, but she could at least try to call Oliver and hope he could sent someone in time.

She knew this Star City vigilante person was supposed to be a good guy, to help people, and he _had_ helped her, but wasn't it too much of a coincidence that he simply happened to be in the right place, at the right time? He had been on the roof when she was attacked, had been watching down on the streets, or maybe watching down on her. She couldn't shake the feeling that he was working for Lionel and he had been watching her, trying to find her and make sure to keep her alive so that Lionel could take care of her himself.

But morning had come and no one had shown up, she was exhausted, despite all the coffee she had kept on drinking every couple of hours, she was tired. At least it was Saturday and she didn't have to worry about school, but that also meant she didn't have work, which meant she was finally going to have to call Oliver. After taking a shower to make sure she looked somewhat presentable and a little more awake, she waited until noon before dialing the number he had given her all those months ago.

* * *

Oliver had spent three more hours patrolling after taking Chloe home the previous night, but he was unable to shake the image of her expression from his mind. She'd been afraid. Despite how much that bothered him, he'd managed to pass out around five a.m. after a yoga session and a long hot shower. The sound of a cell phone ringing pulled him from the hazy fog of sleep and he reached out, cursing as he heard something crash to the floor and shatter. He grabbed the offending noise-maker and flipped it open without opening his eyes. "Hello?"

Chloe frowned softly when he answered, his voice didn't sound right, "Oliver? Did I wake you?"

It took him a moment to register that it was Chloe. When he did, he quickly sat up. "Chloe? Are you all right?" he asked immediately, worry in his tone. She had never called him before, and she'd had his number for months.

"I'm okay," she said quietly, "I'm sorry I woke you up, I'll talk to you later."

"Hey, no, don't worry about it. What's going on?" He rubbed a hand across his eyes.

"I was just wondering if we could talk."

"Yeah, of course. What's up?" He frowned.

"I rather not talk about this over the phone," she told him as she walked over to her window and looked out of it, she knew he didn't have any business meetings or anything scheduled for the day, but she didn't know about his personal life, "if you're not busy, would you mind meeting somewhere?"

"Not at all. Where do you want to meet?" he asked, rising to his feet and heading toward his closet.

Sighing in relief, she nodded, starting towards the door and grabbing her purse on the way, "I can come by."

"All right. I'll see you when you get here," he told her.

"Thank you, I'll be there in half an hour."

"No problem," he told her, hanging up the phone a moment later and getting dressed. He raked a hand through his hair, then headed into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee for when she arrived. Setting out the cream and sugar beside the coffee pot, he made sure all of his secret gear from the night before was carefully put away in the secret room behind his bookcases. Then he took the elevator down its long descent to wait for her downstairs.

***

Just a little over half an hour, Chloe made her way inside the building, this time, unlike every other day of the week, she was wearing jeans and regular clothes that didn't involve heels or a lot of preparation, she was surprised to see Oliver standing there, waiting for her.

"You didn't have to wait downstairs," she told him quietly, still feeling bad for waking him up.

He smiled at her. "I know," he told her, searching her eyes for answers to his questions. "You sounded troubled. Are you okay?"

Chloe shook her head a little and glanced at the elevators, "can we go upstairs?"

"Sure thing," he said without hesitation, guiding her toward the elevator and placing a hand at the small of her back without thinking about it.

Holding her breath, she walked into the elevator, at least she knew his place was probably the safest place in town and hopefully she would be able to tell him what had happened without any problems.

As they waited for the elevator to reach his apartment, he glanced at her sideways. "I've been meaning to ask you about something," he told her.

Raising her eyebrows, she turned to look at him and nodded, "okay?"

"Rachel had access to my place so if she ever needed something and I was out of town on business or even just at a meeting, she could get in. Would you feel comfortable with that?" he asked curiously.

Pursing her lips together, she looked up at him, "are you sure?"

"Doesn't bother me. I mean, if I can't trust my personal assistant and friend, who can I trust?" He smiled faintly, his voice serious.

Chloe nodded softly and looked up at him but didn't smile, "it wouldn't bother me if you're comfortable with it."

"All right." He nodded, as well, then watched the numbers above the doors change as it took them up to his apartment. A moment later, the doors finally slid open and he stepped out. "You want something to drink? I've got coffee ready."

She nodded again, "coffee sounds good."

Oliver headed into the kitchen, fixing her a cup of coffee with cream and sugar, the way he'd observed her fixing it for herself at his office the past few days. Then he handed it to her, motioning toward the sofa. "Should we sit?"

"Thank you," she told him as she took the cup and made her way towards the couch, waiting for him to sit down and sipping on the coffee before turning slightly towards him, "what do you know about that vigilante guy?"

Oliver paused. "The Star City Vigilante?" he asked carefully.

Chloe nodded, shifting uncomfortably and watching Oliver closely.

"Well, I know he's one of the good guys," he said quietly, searching her face. "Why?"

"He helped me last night," she admitted quietly, her own eyes searching his face too, "I stayed late and some guys were being jerks when I was going home and he saw it and helped me."

If she classified what had happened the night before as some guys being jerks, he wasn't sure he wanted to know what she'd call something even worse. "Okay," he said uncertainly, frowning. "Were you hurt?" There was worry in his voice, despite the fact he knew she'd been all right.

"No," she told him, doing her best not to worry him, "but I don't know if this guy can be trusted."

"What makes you say that?" He leaned forward a little, even though he knew the answer to that already, as well.

"He gave me a ride home," she told Oliver, placing the mug on the coffee table and getting up, she had had too much coffee to be able to sit still, "I gave him the street but he _knew_ which one my building was, Oliver, and I never gave him a number or anything and then he kept smirking at me, like he _knew_ something, like he knew _me_ and I don't know if I'm being crazy but I don't trust him."

Oliver did his best not to flinch. Dammit. She _was_ scared of him. He studied her for a moment, watching her slowly pace the room. "Chloe, you can trust him." His voice was quiet.

Chloe stopped, turning to face him when he spoke, "what makes you say that?"

He rose to his feet, taking a deep breath. "Because I know him," he said quietly.

"You do?" She frowned, her heart beating faster.

He nodded slightly. "Yes. Pretty well, actually." He gazed at her. "Do you trust me?"

She kept her eyes on his face, trying her best to read his expression, starting to feel nervous again, "you told him where I lived?"

"He's been helping me keep an eye on you for the last few months," he said quietly.

"How much does he know?" She asked tensely, her eyes widening a little.

She was starting to freak out. He could see it in her face. Wordlessly he held his hand out to her.

Looking down at his hand, she shook her head, her wide eyes going back to his face, "you _told_ him?"

"Please, Chloe. There's something I have to show you so you'll understand what's going on." His eyes were pleading. "And if you never want to see me again after this, I won't bother you again, I swear on my parents' graves."

Pursing her lips together, she took a deep breath and after a second, she hesitated then placed her hand in his, her heart beating fast.

He curled his fingers around hers and gave her hand a gentle squeeze, his own heart beating quickly in his chest. He swallowed hard as he led her over to the bookcases, then drew in a breath, releasing her hand and pushing them apart to reveal the hidden door there. He unlocked it quickly and flipped on the light, turning to look at her with a hint of worry in his own eyes.

Chloe was confused for a moment as he opened the doors, it wasn't until her eyes fell on the green leather outfit that she understood what he was trying to tell her. _That_ was why he looked familiar, _that_ was why he knew where she lived, Oliver hadn't betrayed her trust after all, _he_ had been the one to save her, "you're the vigilante..." she asked quietly, turning to look at him.

He met her eyes for a moment, then dropped his gaze to the floor. "Now you know my secret," he said quietly.

She sighed deeply, rubbing her hands over her face, "I'm sorry I doubted you."

Oliver's eyebrows furrowed as he looked up at her once more, confusion clear on his face. That hadn't been the reaction he'd been expecting. "What?"

"I thought you had told someone else about me and..." she shook her head, "you were just helping me yet again."

He blinked a couple of times. "You're not upset?"

It was her turn to give him a confused look as she shook her head, "because you saved my life?"

"No, that..." He glanced toward the room. "I guess I was expecting...I don't know, exactly." He looked at her uncertainly.

Chloe shook her head a little and turned her back to him, looking around the room for a moment, "why do you do this?"

He was silent for a moment, unable to read her tone like he usually could. "Someone has to," he said softly.

After she took in the entire room, she turned to face him again, "I can't believe you are him, I have been hearing about this guy since I moved here but I wasn't even sure he was _real_ until last night."

Oliver watched her nervously. "I've tried to stay out of the papers as much as possible, but I can't stop people from talking to the tabloids."

"Have you ever told anyone?"

"No, definitely not," he said without hesitation.

Sighing softly, she allowed herself to relax again, watching him, she nodded slightly, "thank you for trusting me."

He nodded carefully, his chest tight. "On a scale of one to 'my boss is a huge freak and I'm putting in my letter of resignation tomorrow morning', how freaked are you?" His voice was quiet.

Raising her eyebrows, she shook her head, "I've seen weirder things and this just goes to prove you really are just trying to help people, it also explains your need to help me since we met. I've met real freaks before and you're nowhere near that category."

Oliver let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "And you're not quitting?"

Chloe shook her head, smiling slightly at him. "you've been protecting my secret for months now, it's only fair I protect yours too."

At that, he smiled faintly. "Thank you." His voice was quiet.

"Thank you for helping me last night," she paused, adding quietly, "and for trusting me."

"You're welcome." He hesitated a moment, then stepped closer to her, worry in his eyes. "I just wish I'd gotten there sooner. I had no idea you stayed late."

"I didn't mean to," she admitted quietly, "I was just doing homework after you left and when I realized what time it was..."

Oliver nodded slightly, searching her eyes. She'd said as much the night before. "How's your head today?"

"It's okay, I'm okay," her butt was sore from when she hit the ground, but she figured that might be TMI.

He relaxed a little, hesitantly sliding his arms around her in a gentle hug.

Chloe raised her eyebrows, surprised for a second before returning the hug, a soft smile on her lips as she sighed softly, she had managed to completely freak herself out the previous night, she had been awake for over twenty-four hours at this point and now that she was allowing herself to relax, she was starting to feel the tiredness.

"Sorry I scared you last night. I really didn't mean to," he said sincerely, gently rubbing her back.

"It's okay," she told him quietly, leaning into him, "I have a way of freaking myself out."

"For good reason." He rested his chin atop her head. "You've been through a lot."

Closing her eyes tiredly, she rested her cheek against his chest, "I'm glad you found out who I was."

Oliver smiled softly at that admission, even though it surprised him a little. "Me too, Chloe." He was quiet for a moment, making no effort to pull away.

Chloe tightened her arms around him unconsciously, she had no idea how she would have made it if she didn't have someone to lean on, if she didn't have the support Oliver had been offering her, she wouldn't have been able to maintain her sanity as much as she had and the more time she spent with him, the more she got to know about him, the happier she was that it had been _Oliver Queen_ , of all people, to figure out the truth about her.

Although no one would believe if they just read what the papers said about him, he had a big heart and he was a genuinely nice guy and she promised not to allow herself to doubt him again.

"You're tired," he said quietly, pulling away just enough to look down at her. "I'm betting you didn't get any sleep last night?"

Pursing her lips together, she shook her head, "I just drank a lot of coffee, I should get back."

Oliver shook his head a little. "Why don't you lie down in the guest room instead?" he suggested.

"I don't wanna bother you anymore than I already have, Oliver."

"You're hardly a bother," he said quietly, searching her eyes. "Really, I'd feel better knowing you were here and safe anyway."

Chloe looked up at him for a moment, "I don't wanna get in the way, I'm sure you have things to do."

"I don't think your sleeping will disturb my yoga," he teased gently.

Smiling softly, she looked down then back at him and nodded, "thank you."

Without thinking about it, he kissed her forehead. "You're welcome."

She blinked, a little surprised by his action but not bothered by it, "if you need to leave or if you have something to do, don't worry about me, I just want to rest for a while before I go home."

"It's fine, Chloe. You're not causing me any trouble," he assured her, guiding her out of the room and locking it back up before leading her down the hallway to the guest room.

Her eyes widened as she walked inside of the guest room, it was definitely bigger than her apartment and she wasn't even including the bathroom that she could see on the left or the closet that was on the right, "...wow."

A faint smile tugged at his lips at the expression on her face. He was quiet for a moment, his eyes resting on the closed closet doors. "If you want to change, there are some clothes in the closet." When she'd left, Mercy had left some of her things behind.

Chloe raised her eyebrows then frowned a little, "are they your girlfriend's?"

"Ex," he said softly with a nod. "Yeah."

"Oh," her face fell a little, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Oliver told her quietly. "It's been awhile, but...she's not coming back for them. She was taller than you, but something in there should fit all right."

Shaking her head, she smiled a little, awkwardly, "I should be okay, I don't want to sleep for too long."

"All right." He nodded. "But you're welcome to stay as long as you'd like. I really don't have any plans until later tonight."

"You don't?" She asked curiously, moving to sit on the bed and looking up at him.

"Nope," he said truthfully, offering her a small smile. "My original plan was to check on you then come back here for a few hours before going on patrol."

Raising her eyebrows, she watched him, "I guess that makes sense, you probably need to rest before doing all that, your arms _really_ don't hurt?"

Oliver couldn't help but chuckle a little. "They're used to it," he told her with a faint smirk.

Chloe smiled a little and shrugged, suddenly glancing away when she remember how _hot_ she had thought he was the previous night, while they were standing up on the rooftop and how now that felt highly inappropriate since he was her boss, "how long have you been doing this for?"

"Since shortly after I got back from that two year unplanned island vacation." He smiled a bit.

"Oh," nodding, she watched him as questions kept coming to her even though she felt exhausted, "is that where you learned the archery stuff?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "There wasn't much in the way of fast food on the island, so I had to track it down myself." There was a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.

"You mean there _is_ a place in the world without a McDonalds? You should invest. Quick." She smirked up at him.

He grinned at her. "But that's what made the island a paradise, Chloe," he teased.

Chloe shook her head and frowned at him, "if they didn't have McDonalds, I bet they didn't have coffee and that's hardly a paradise if you ask me."

"Are you telling me you actually _like_ McDonalds' coffee?" His eyes widened in mock surprise.

Makes a face and shakes her head, "God no, it should be illegal to call that coffee, but I assume there was no electricity, no coffee makers and therefore, no coffee."

"No, there was definitely no electricity," he agreed, amused.

She just nodded and shrugged, "it must have been hard, two whole years stuck there."

Oliver was quiet for a moment. "It wasn't easy," he admitted. "But it probably saved my life in the long run."

"What do you mean?" She asked curiously.

He gazed at her, then slowly moved to sit down beside her on the bed. "I was pretty screwed up. Partying all the time. Drinking. Drugs." He shrugged a little. "Getting stuck there was kind of a huge wake up call for me."

Watching him silently, Chloe nodded a little, "and when you got back, you decided to help people?"

"It was sort of a vow I made while I was there. That I wouldn't waste the rest of my life being a selfish, self-absorbed bastard."

She shook her head and smiled a little at that, "I can't see you as a selfish, self-absorbed bastard."

"I was," he said quietly, gazing at her intently. "I wasn't a good person back then."

Holding his gaze, her face grew serious, "you're an amazing person now, I don't think anyone would ever have helped me as much as you have been, Oliver."

"I don't know about _anyone_. But I'm glad I've been able to help," he said seriously.

Chloe nodded slightly, "I really can't thank you enough," she told him quietly, "I don't know how I would have made it this far without having someone who knew the truth."

Oliver reached out and touched her arm. "You would've been okay. You're strong, Chloe."

She looked down at his hand then smiled a little at him, "maybe, but it would have been a lot lonelier."

He offered her a small smile in return, nodding. "For me too." He gave her arm a gentle squeeze then rose to his feet. "Get some rest, Chloe."

"I will, thanks, Oliver," she told him quietly, watching as he left the room.

"You're welcome," he said just as quietly. Then he disappeared down the hall.

Chloe took off her shoes and got up, turning off the lights and closing the door before getting into bed, she really felt exhausted and with the fact that this bed was a lot more comfortable than her own on top of the fact that she knew she didn't have to be afraid anymore, it took her only a few minutes before she was fast asleep, the covers pulled tight around herself as she hugged an extra pillow to her chest.

A half hour later, he opened the door quietly and peeked inside, a soft, warm smile touching his lips as he saw she was fast asleep. He was glad she was comfortable enough with him to feel safe enough to sleep in an unfamiliar place. He shut the door silently once more and headed down the hallway.


	7. Chapter 7

Almost a week had passed since he'd let Chloe in on his secret, and now that she knew, he found that he was actually truly comfortable with her knowing. It had freaked him out at first--because he had never told anyone, and he'd been afraid of how she'd react. But she'd taken it very well, and they'd spent the last several evenings together eating dinner after work before he drove her home and then went to patrol.

But today was different. Because today's date was a significant one. There was a vase of orange tulips sitting on her desk at the office. He was already in his office, sitting at his desk and going over some reports for a meeting the following day when he heard the outer door open and shut.

Chloe raised her eyebrows as she walked to her desk and placed her purse over it, eying the flowers suspiciously, there was no way he'd know, was there? How could he? Well, okay, google would probably tell him, but still, he probably wouldn't even have thought of it, _she_ had almost completely forgotten about it, only remembering the previous night when she got home and while going through her homework, found out a note that she had a test the following morning and the date was circled, which called her attention to it.

Still, she looked around at the flowers, trying to find a card. Tulips were her favorites, but she knew no amount of research would actually tell him that much.

He appeared in the doorway of his office a moment later. "Hey. How was school?" he asked cheerfully, a grin on his face.

She looked up and turned around to face him, shaking her head a little, "school-like, these were here when I came in and there's no card."

"They're from your boss," he said with a smile.

"They're for me?" She cocked her head, looking at him, "you know, don't you?"

He ducked his head a little. "I marked it on my calendar," he admitted with a slight nod.

Chloe smiled and shook her head, looking back at the flowers, "thank you, you really didn't have to."

Oliver smiled at her. "You're welcome. And I wanted to."

She looked at him again, "that doesn't explain how you knew my favorite kind of flower."

He cocked his head to the side, surprised. "They are? Really?"

She grinned, nodding a little embarrassed, "yeah."

At that, he smiled. "Well, then I suppose I'm either psychic or just a really good guesser."

"According to your alter ego, you're a good guesser," she teased.

Oliver smirked. "Touche."

Chloe smirked back and nodded at him before smiling, "thanks again, boss."  
He nodded back, smiling in return. "Happy birthday, Chloe." His voice was quiet. Then he ducked back into his office.

She watched him for a second then looked back at the flowers, smiling softly as she walked around her desk and sat down on her chair, she couldn't help but wonder if Clark, Pete and Lois remembered that today was her birthday and wonder how they were doing. She had been keeping up with the Ledger and the Torch, which apparently Clark and Pete were in charge of now, but she didn't know any details.

"Do you have plans tonight?" he called.

Raising her eyebrows, she looked in the direction of his office, "no?"

"You want to have dinner with me?"

She couldn't help but smile, she had expected as much, they usually had dinner together anyway, he wasn't going to let her eat by herself on her birthday, "sounds good to me."

"Cool. Anything specific sound good?" he asked, poking his head out the door again and flashing her a smile.

Leaning back against her chair, she looked up at him, "I'm open to suggestions?"

"Nope. It's your day, you get to pick," he told her with a grin.

"Know any good Italian places?" She raised her eyebrows.

Oliver nodded at that. "I do. And they even deliver, so we're in luck."

Chloe smiled softly at him and nodded, "I guess it's easier that way."

"And safer," he said softly.

"Oh," she raised her eyebrows, "I guess so, I hadn't thought of that."

Oliver met her eyes and nodded a little. "It wouldn't be an issue if I wasn't who I am."

"And _that_ wouldn't be an issue if I wasn't who I am," she reminded him.

He smiled a bit. "I vote we just be happy with who we are and accept that delivery is the best way to go."

Grinning softly, Chloe nodded a little, "works for me, besides, it's more comfortable anyway..."

"That's true. Don't have to dress up. Can sit on the couch, watch TV..." He grinned back at her.

"Sounds much nicer," she smiled at him, she had been a little disappointed that he didn't want to go out to eat but he had a good point and this sounded good too.

Oliver nodded slightly. "Want some coffee?"

Stretching a little, she nodded and stood up, "yeah, and I guess you're not letting me work much today, huh?"

"I was actually thinking of giving us both the rest of the day off. With pay of course." He smirked.

"Did I ever tell you you're the best boss ever?" She said with a grin, walking up to him and past him into his office.

He chuckled. "No, but I could get used to hearing it," he informed her with a smirk.

She nudged him with her elbow as she made her way to the coffee maker, "help your fragile ego?"

"Exactly. See? You know me so well." He grinned and sat back in his chair.

Grinning a little, she shook her head, pouring coffee into her mug, "just your ego specifications."

"It's what makes me entertaining." He smirked.

"Your ego?" She asked, amused and sat down on the chair across from him.

"Of course." Oliver grinned at her.

Chloe smirked slowly and shook her head, "now you're just playing up the cliches."

"How so?" He cocked his head to look at her.

"The tabloids keep saying you're all about your ego..." she smirked, "not that I _read_ those."

"Not you," he teased, amusement in his eyes.

"Sometimes, I get bored," she informed him.

Oliver simply smirked at her.

"You read them too, I know you do."

"Well, I do have to keep up with whom I've supposedly gotten pregnant and who I'm secretly dating, you know."

Laughing, she shook her head, "well it's important for me to know those things too, in case they call."

"Now there's a thought. I could have you field all the tabloid reporters' calls," he said with a bright smile.

With a devious smirk, she raised an eyebrow, "I would have fun with them. Of course, that wouldn't improve your image..."

His jaw dropped, and then he frowned deeply. "You're mean."

Chloe grinned and shook her head, "I wouldn't feed them more rumors, I would tell them they should be ashamed of themselves for their sad excuse for a newspaper, which would piss them off."

Oliver met her eyes and grinned. "Then they'd just say that I was sleeping with _you_."

Smirking, she shrugged a shoulder, "no one respectable would believe them anyway."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

Raising her eyebrows, she shrugged, "wouldn't bother me."

That caught him off guard. He gazed at her for a long moment, then slowly sat back in his chair. "Thanks, Chloe." His voice was quiet.

And it was her turn to be caught off guard, cocking her head a little, she looked at him curiously, "what for?"

He smiled faintly. "Most women with any self-respect would be insulted at the idea of being romantically linked to Oliver Queen," he said with a shrug.

"What is this self-respect you speak of?" She teased, her voice soft.

Oliver shook his head in amusement.

"I know you're not the guy people think you are, actually, you're as far from it as you could possibly get, I haven't even seen you going on dates since I started hanging out with you more often," she pointed out, smiling at him.

He paused at that, realizing she was right. He hadn't been out with anyone since he'd figured out who she really was and had spent so much time devoted to watching over her. "Some things are more important than dating," he said quietly.

She frowned softly, watching him carefully, "I'm not getting in the way of your love life, am I?"

Oliver frowned, then rose from his seat, moving around to the other side of the desk where she was seated, and leaning against the desk. "You are not getting in the way of anything, Chloe." He searched her eyes intently, trying to figure out where she kept coming up with that idea.

"I just want to make sure," she told him, shrugging a little and looking up at him as he moved closer, "I mean, I don't really have a life so it works out well for me that we spend so much time together, but you do, or did."

"I enjoy spending time with you," he said sincerely. "You're smart and witty and fun to be around." And beautiful, he added silently, his eyebrows furrowing as he wondered where _that_ thought had come from. "Plus you pretty much know the biggest secret in my life, so I can be myself."

Her face softened at his words and she sat up a little, nodding, "yeah, I feel the same way, it's nice to be able to be Chloe around you and not have to be careful about everything I say."

Oliver smiled. "Does that make us two peas in a pod?" he teased.

"Something like that," she agreed, grinning, "considering you're a masked vigilante and a billionaire, I'm okay with that."

"Plus, pea pods are green, so it fits." He smirked.

"Hey, my favorite color is orange," she mock squinted at him.

Oliver grinned. "Your eyes are green. I win."

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head, "what does that have to do with anything?"

"Green is in your genetic code."

Laughing, she shook her head once more, leaning closer and looking up at him, "not in yours, should I be pushing brown?"

"Brown isn't a good look for me," he said without missing a beat, moving behind his desk to shut down his computer.

Smirking, she leaned back against her chair and watched as he moved around, "we're both blond, we could go with yellow."

He made a face at that. "But then we'd both look pale all the time."

Shaking her head, she shrugged, "it's my birthday, I pick orange." And grinned brightly at him.

His head dropped forward toward his chest. "Damn."

Chloe laughed and smirked triumphantly, "you get to be the boss again tomorrow."

"Fine, fine. So we're what? Two oranges in a tree?" he asked, returning her smirk.

"Two pumpkins in a pumpkin patch?" She raised her eyebrow.

"Two carrots in the ground?" he ventured.

"Too phallic," she teased.

At that, he snorted a laugh. "Nice, Chloe."

Chloe smiled at him and sat up, leaning her arms over his desk and leaning forward, watching him, "so what are we going to watch?" There had been mention of a movie earlier and Oliver's collection was oddly limited.

He shrugged, offering her a grin. "Whatever you want."

"I'll think about it," she told him then studied him quietly, "do you have any birthday traditions?"

Oliver was silent for a moment. "Yeah. I either drink myself into a stupor or throw myself into work to avoid the day."

Making a face, Chloe watched him, "that bad, huh?"

He smiled faintly. "Not my favorite day," he admitted with a slight shrug.

Nodding softly, she watched him, "I wasn't sure how I was going to feel today and mostly I was planning on ignoring it, because, what's the point? But spending it with you," she shrugged and smiled a little, "it's not so bad."

His eyes softened. "Good," he said softly.

With a soft smile, she nodded and watched him. She missed the others, and today more than any other day, she kept thinking of them and what they were doing and what they would do if they knew, and of course she missed her dad and she wished that she could have celebrated her eighteenth birthday with him and it hurt that he would never celebrate one of her birthdays with her again, but at least, she wasn't alone and she had someone who cared enough about her to pay attention to the date and yet not make a big deal out of it, which she wouldn't have been comfortable with anyway.

"Ready to go?" he asked a few moments later, holding his arm out to her with a smile.

Chloe blinked in surprise and looked up at him, standing and taking his arm, "yeah, since there will be no work."

"Not on your birthday," he agreed, leading her out of the offices and locking the doors behind them.

She let go of his arm and glanced inside the room as he locked it, making a mental note to come back for the flowers on her way out, maybe it would make her apartment slightly more tolerable if she had them there.

"You'll be in Metropolis next week," she commented as they walked inside the elevator, she had seen it in his schedule for the few seconds she was actually on her desk.

He paused, glancing at her sideways. "Yeah, I will. For a couple days."

With a deep breath, she nodded, "I wish I could come with you."

Oliver was silent for a moment. "Why don't you?"

Frowning, she shook her head, chewing on her bottom lip, "I don't think it's a good idea, my cousin lives in Metropolis and if I was there, it would be hard not to go see her."

His eyes were sad as he gazed at her. "Right," he murmured.

She nodded, smiling sadly at him, "it's for her protection."

He studied her for a moment. "While I'm away, I want you to stay at my place."

Pursing her lips together, she considered then nodded, there was no point in arguing, she felt a lot safer there than she did anywhere else and with Oliver out of town, if anyone had been trying to harm her, that would be the perfect time, "okay."

"Good," he said softly, glad she hadn't argued about it. He'd feel better knowing she was safe at his place under the considerable amount of security he had there. He made a mental note to stock the fridge and cabinets with food, and leave out the menus to all the delivery places in the city so she'd have her choice of food. "I'll show you how to work the security system."

"Pretty sure I can figure them out," she told him with a small smile, "but okay."

At that, he grinned. "Well, you'll at least need all the codes."

"It would make life easier and make me feel safer if I didn't have to hack anything and accidentally succeeded," she agreed.

He arched his eyebrows. "You can hack?"

Pursing her lips together, she nodded, "I'm no expert, but I can do some stuff."

"Impressive," he said with a nod. "I'm not that good with computers myself."

"Living in Smallville gave me a lot of free time to learn a lot of not-necessarily-useful things."

"I'd say that could come in pretty handy actually."

Raising her eyebrows, she cocked her head, "how so?"

A smile tugged at his lips and he turned his head to look at her. "In a very illegal but morally helpful way?"

With a purse of her lips, she squinted her eyes, a smirk starting to appear, "I'm okay with illegal yet morally helpful."

Oliver's smile widened. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Now I'm curious," she said as she followed him out of the elevator and into the apartment.

"Well, on occasion my nighttime job requires a bit of shady work in order to right certain wrongs," he told her quietly.

"Oh," nodding, she watched him, "for people who the law can't touch," she added, understanding, she had, after all, seen all the things Lionel had been capable of, including killing his own parents.

"Justice is the name of the game," he murmured.

"Sometimes it's not easy to get the justice some people deserve."

Oliver met her eyes, almost feeling her pain as if it were his own. "I know," he said softly. 

Tightening her jaw, she held his gaze and nodded, "whatever you need help with, I want to help." 

Without thinking about it, he stepped closer to her, resting his hands on her shoulders. "Is that you volunteering to be my sidekick?"

Raising her eyebrows at the term, she watched him closely, "if that's what you want to call me."

"Careful. I'll take you literally." A smile tugged at his lips.

"I mean it, Oliver," she told him, her expression still serious, her heart beating fast against her chest as she started considering all the possibilities, "I want to help in any way that I can. I can't shoot arrows or jump off of buildings, but I can research and I can hack and if that's what you need to bring bastards like Lionel to justice, then I want to help you."

His smile faded slightly as he studied her, searching her eyes and realizing how serious she was. If he was honest with himself, he could admit that he needed help doing just what she'd described. Hacking certainly wasn't anything he knew about, and while he could research pretty well, he felt most comfortable going out in the leather suit and intervening physically. It was what he was good at. And he could see it in her eyes--the burning need to make a difference, to make things better--and how could he say no to that when he understood and shared the same need?

Oliver nodded slightly, still holding her gaze. "All right. Deal."

With a deep breath, she held her hand out to him, waiting until he took it and shaking it one, "deal."

Oliver shook her hand, giving it a light squeeze and nodding. He had a feeling they had just solidified something that neither of them would be turning back from.

After a second, she finally smiled a little, "so now you're my boss times two?"

"No." He shook his head slightly. "In this? We're partners."

Chloe nodded at that, chewing on the inside of her mouth as she watched him, "I like that."

He smiled faintly. "Thought you might."

"Why do you trust me so much?"

Oliver studied her for a moment. "I have good instincts when it comes to people," he said quietly. "And you gave me your trust. The least I can do is show you the same consideration."

Chloe studied him back, there was an admiration she felt for him, not only for everything he had done for _her_ , but for everything he did everyday, he had so much power, so much money, as much as the Luthors, he could just sit on his couch and not lift a finger for the rest of his life and he wouldn't have to worry about money or anything else, but instead, every day, as the CEO of one of the most lucrative companies of the nation, he helped not only his employees, but the community with social projects and donations and as if that wasn't enough, he risked his life every night as he took down criminal by criminal that scared the population of Star City.

She felt like everything he did was for the betterment of the lives of everyone around him and she couldn't help but aspire to be half as good a person as he was.

"I'm glad," she told him after a moment, a soft smile appearing on her lips.

He smiled back softly, wrapping his arms around her in a hug. "So, Italian food?"

With her arms around him too, she hugged him tightly for a second, as if all that wasn't enough, he also gave her really good, comforting hugs, "Italian food," she agreed as she pulled her head back to look up at him after a moment.

Oliver met her eyes, nodding slightly. "If you tell me your favorite Italian food is fettuccine alfredo, I'm not going to be surprised." There was a hint of teasing in his tone.

"Hm, it's one of my favorites?" She grinned at him, cocking her head slightly, "depends on my mood, sometimes I just go for the classic spaghetti and meatballs."

He couldn't help but grin back. She just had that kind of smile, that when it was genuine, he couldn't seem to resist. "So what's your mood tonight?"

"Since you seem to be ordering the fettuccine, I'll go with the spaghetti and steal a bite of yours," she pursed her lips into a smile and raised her eyebrows at him, "that way I don't have to make a choice."

Oliver chuckled. "Deal." He winked at her and headed for the telephone.

"Oh," Chloe followed him, "do they have cheesecake?"

"Only thirty or so different kinds." He smirked and turned to face her once more. "What kind do you want? Or should I order a piece of all thirty?"

Her face brightened at that and she shook her head, "I don't doubt you'd actually order all of them," with a mock raise of her eyebrow, she smirked, "no, just a slice of the strawberry cheesecake."

He would have, without hesitation. It was her birthday, after all. "Got it." He dialed the number, placing their orders with an amused smile.

Chloe watched him for a moment then made her way towards the living room and sat down on the couch, normally she would have insisted on halving the cost of everything with him, but she had tried that plenty of times before and he had refused every single time, she even insisted on him taking off a percentage of her salary for the amount of money he had been spending on feeding her, but he had threatened to give her a raise instead for keeping him company over dinner and counting it as overtime, so eventually, she quit trying.

Oliver was glad she didn't try the argument, and hoped she'd given it up for good. It wasn't like he couldn't afford it, and truthfully, he enjoyed spending evenings with her, eating dinner and talking. He'd begun feeling better than he had in a long time, since before Tess had left, since before the island and even before Excelsior. She was easy to talk to, and he hadn't lied when he'd told her he enjoyed her company. He made his way into the living room, still holding onto the phone. "So what movie are you thinking about?"

She considered for a moment, her eyes going from him to the TV set and she shrugged a little, "I don't know, we've seen a lot of them already, I guess maybe we can just see what is on TV?"

"Sure," he agreed, picking up the remote and pausing. "You should know that this is a sacred moment." His face was serious as he held the remote out to her.

Raising her eyebrows she looked down at the remote and laughed, taking it from him, "yeah, right, you always let me pick what we're going to watch."

"But I don't generally hand you the remote." He grinned.

Rolling her eyes, she smirked, "so on my _birthday_ you choose to make me put the physical effort into pushing the buttons? There's something flawed in this logic."

"Okay, then give it back," he said, holding his hand out.

Mock gasping, she shook her head and pulled the remote away from him, "too late, it's mine now."  
Narrowing his eyes playfully, he reached out and tickled her with one hand as he made a grab for the remote with the other.

Chloe laughed and squirmed, stretching her arm and holding the remote as far from him as she could, "not fair! You gave it to me."

Given how much taller he was than she, he could have easily taken it from her hand if he'd really wanted to. Instead he just grinned down at her with a knowing look.

She looked up at him and quickly moved, turning to face him and stretching her arm behind her back instead, "there."

"You realize I could just pick you up, right?" he teased.

She rolled her eyes at him but smirked, "well, this is hardly a fair fight when you're a superhero with big muscled arms."

At that, he raised his eyebrows. "I'm not sure which part of that is more flattering." He grinned.

Chloe reached and patted his chest with her free hand, "I know, I can see your ego inflating from here."

Oliver smirked. "And here I thought you said you didn't buy into all that tabloid gossip."

"I don't need to when it's happening right in front of my eyes," she teased, cocking her head as she looked up at him.

He shrugged a little. "That's not ego inflation. It's just the truth." He grinned.

Mock sighing, she rolled her eyes but smirked up at him, "careful, you'll go Alice on me and get so big, you won't fit inside the apartment."

"I think _you're_ Alice. But I may be that cat."

"Curiouser and curiouser," she smirked.

He smirked back at her. "Find us something to watch on TV," he said, elbowing her lightly.

Sitting up, she turned on the couch again and sighed, relaxing as she leaned back into it and turned on the tv, "for the record, I won."

"Yeah, yeah." He draped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her up against him, a soft smile on his face.

The same soft smile that was on her face as she leaned against his side, kicking off her shoes and bending her legs over the couch, not at all worried about what was on TV as she flipped through the channels as long as neither one of them had to move.


	8. Chapter 8

He was tired.

He'd spent the last two days in and out of meetings, and had barely slept the night before between going over reports and worrying about Chloe back in Star City. Knowing he had another long night ahead of him and one more day of meetings, he glanced at the clock. It was only 10:30 back home, which meant it wasn't too late to call.

Picking up his cell phone, Oliver dialed the number to the untraceable phone he'd given her a few days before, and waited.

Chloe smiled when she heard the phone ringing, only one person had that number and it was the one person she actually looked forward to talking to every day. She got up from the couch, setting her plate on the coffee table and rushing towards the kitchen counter, where she had left her purse, and picking up the phone just after the third ring.

"Hey."

He smiled at the sound of her voice. "Hey. How's it going?"

"Pretty boring," she told him with a smile as she walked back to the living room and placed her feet over the couch, pulling her knees to her chest, "how is Metropolis?"

"Also boring," he informed her. "I'm sick of meetings. And reports."

"If I was there, I would be showing you around," she told him, a soft smile on her face, she really wished she had been able to go with him, but she knew it was a bad idea, she knew plenty of people in the area and there was no telling who she might run into.

Oliver sat down on the edge of his bed, a warm smile touching his lips. "Any tips on where I could get a great pizza?" he asked.

"Gianno's, it's a tiny place on 4th, but it's the best pizza ever, and they do deliver, do you want me to look up their number?"

"Sure, if you don't mind." He grinned. He was fully capable of looking the number up himself but he could tell by her tone she wanted to help.

"I still work for you," she teased and reached for her laptop, setting it over her lap and typing quickly, "what else do you wanna know?"

"What else do you think I should know?"

"You should eat at this burger joint, it's in a trailer about two blocks north of the Planet, there really isn't a place to seat and they don't deliver, but they have the _best_ burgers ever." Chloe spoke excitedly, sitting up as she told him, "do you want the number for the pizza place now?"

Oliver smiled and picked up a piece of paper and a pen from the nightstand. "That'd be great." The excitement in her voice was obvious and he wished she was there with him.

"Okay, it's 477-2992," she told him, setting her laptop aside and crossing her legs over the couch this time, "you don't have a lot of free time while you're there, right?"

"Unfortunately not, no," he told her, jotting down the number. "Why?"

"No reason, I was just wondering," she told him quietly, playing with the hem of her PJ pants as she did.

Oliver was quiet for a moment. "I was thinking. My last meeting should be over by five tomorrow. I think I'm gonna come home early."

"Oh," she raised her eyebrows a little, sitting up again, "don't you need to stay until Thursday?"

"Not really. I just figured I'd spend the night here, but I'd rather be at home in my own bed," he told her.

"I don't blame you," she said with a soft smile, the beds he had there were incredibly comfortable, at least the one in the guest room, she had done her best to ignore her curiosity and stay out of Oliver's room, not that she wanted to go poking around for anything in particular, she just liked to explore, but Oliver had trusted her with not only his home, but also his biggest secret and she was going to do her best to respect his privacy.

"You doing all right there?" he asked, his voice growing softer. "Do you feel safe?"

"It's better when you are here," she blurted out, then paused, shifting awkwardly and adding quickly, "but I'm okay, staying in your apartment is much safer than staying in mine, thanks for letting me stay here."

He couldn't help the smile that touched his lips at her admission. "You're very welcome," he said quietly. "If all goes well I should be in around 11, maybe a little earlier if I'm lucky." He wanted to let her know so he didn't accidently scare her when he got back.

Pursing her lips together, she nodded softly, looking down at her lap, "I can go home tomorrow after work, that way you can rest when you get home."

He frowned. "I'd rather you stayed. I'd like to see you."

Her eyes widened and she raised her head, "are you sure?" She felt her cheeks flushing and wanted to kick herself, she knew she had a pretty massive crush on Oliver, how could she not? He was the perfect guy. Literally. And he seemed to care about her, even if it wasn't like _that_ , she still felt like she got a lot more attention from him than she had ever gotten from Clark, there was no Lana around Oliver and she knew he would never look at her in the way she was starting to see him, but she was also pretty sure he knew she had a crush on him and it didn't seem to bother him, he was used to it, besides, she dared any woman to be around him as much as she was and not develop a crush.

"I'm positive," he told her, leaning back against the headboard. "I've missed you," he admitted with a small smile. And he'd hated to leave her alone in the first place. And he _had_ missed her. He missed eating dinner with her and talking about their day, and just hanging out with her.

Seriously? How could she _not_ have a crush on him? Now she couldn't quit smiling and her heart was beating faster, not to mention, her cheeks felt even warmer, "I've missed you too," she told him quietly, then rubbed a hand over her face. She really hadn't rationalized the whole crush thing until he had left and she had started to miss him so much and then all of the sudden her brain was supplying her with mental images of him kissing her and pulling her into her lap and she had realized she wasn't just missing the safety he provided, she was missing a whole lot more.

There was something in her voice that wasn't quite right and his eyebrows furrowed a little. "You sure you're all right, Chloe?" he asked softly, wishing he could see her face so he'd know for sure. If anyone was as good at hiding things from people as he was, it was her.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she answered, doing her best to ignore everything else that was going on in her brain and _really_ glad he couldn't see her face, she had another twenty-four hours to get herself under control, "what are you doing for the rest of the night?" Distracting him was good.

"Going over reports," he said with a soft sigh. "What about you?"

"Just watching TV, do you still have a lot of work to do?"

"Well, I went over everything last night, so mostly it's just a review. Anything good on?" he asked.

"Hm, not really, channel surfing since I have the power over the remote," she smirked, "you left your gear here, right?"

He chuckled at that. "We still always wind up watching what you want," he teased. "Yeah, I did."

"Because you're too nice..." she told him, turning on the couch until she was laying down on it, "maybe I'll go out tonight, then, shoot some bad guys, take your bike out."

A sudden, incredibly inappropriate image of Chloe wearing his leather flashed through his mind and he swallowed hard. Every thought he'd had suddenly fled him save that one.

"Did I give you a heart attack?" Her voice was more than slightly amused.

More than she realized. "Possibly, yes," he said wryly. Just not for the reasons she probably assumed.

Chloe snickered, shaking her head, "promise I was joking about the shooting people part."

"That wasn't the part that rendered me speechless, Sidekick."

"Were you worried about the safety of your bike? I promise I'm a good driver," even if she had never driven a bike before.

Right. His bike. "Worried about my bike and you possibly falling off it at high speeds," he teased, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Give me some credit here, boss, I know if I hurt 'her' you'd never talk to me again."

He rolled his eyes. "Please. I can buy another bike. Pretty sure I can't buy another Chloe."

Chloe couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face as she stretched over the couch slowly, "nope, I'm an only child, one of a kind."

"That you are," he agreed with a soft smile.

Smiling shyly, she shook her head a little, "maybe you can teach me how to ride."

"You're really interested in motorcycles?" There was a hint of surprise in his voice.

"Not really, they are not very practical," she told him sincerely, " but I'm not opposed to learning something new."

"What do you mean? They're completely practical." His voice was light and he grinned. "But if you're open to trying new things, I have some ideas."

It was her brain's turn to go in a completely inappropriate direction but since she was a woman and had no problems with multi-tasking she managed to reply at the same time, "such as?" even if her tone was a lot more insinuative than she meant for it to be.

His eyebrows rose at her tone and he paused, swallowing hard. "Such as self-defense, for starters."

Chewing on the inside of her mouth, she raised her eyebrows, "you can teach me that?"

"If you're interested, yes. If you want, I can teach you a lot of things, Chloe." His voice was quiet.

Chloe smirked again at his words, she really had to quit doing that, it was one thing to have those thoughts about him when he was on the phone with her, but it would be hard to stop them from happening when he was around, "I think that'd be good."

"Yeah?" He smiled, resting his arms on his knees.

"Yeah," she shifted on the couch, turning on her side, "I think it would be useful and I wanna learn things you want to show me."

"All right. We can start this weekend if you're ready." He figured the sooner the better. He wanted her to be able to protect herself.

"I'm ready," she closed her eyes and grinned, shaking her head at herself and rubbing a hand over her face. _Really_ had to stop.

"Excellent. But you should know I won't make it easy. I'm going to teach you the right way."

"I wouldn't expect anything else from you, with your kind of experience," she pressed a hand firmly against her mouth, pulling the phone away as she snickered silently, hoping he couldn't hear anything in her voice.

Oliver cocked his head to the side, pausing. He heard _something_ in her voice, all right, he just wasn't sure what it was. "Chloe? You all right over there?" he asked uncertainly.

"Mhmm," she did her best to answer but a second later, she couldn't hold it back anymore and burst into laughter. 

He raised an eyebrow, a bemused smile touching his lips. "I feel like I missed something."

It took her a long moment to recover, with deep breaths, she cleared her throat, "sorry, dirty mind, I'll be good."

Oliver smirked involuntarily. "Dirty mind, huh? How dirty?"

That surprised her, raising her eyebrows slowly, Chloe smirked too, "pretty dirty..."

And now that he knew that, his mind was flashing back to his mental image from before. "Yeah, well. You're not the only one." 

Licking her lips, she raised her eyebrows, smirking slowly, "promise?"

"I'm a guy. I can pretty much guarantee it."

Rolling her eyes, Chloe sat up, stretching her arms above her head and sighing softly, "yeah, yeah, guys are hormonal."

"But apparently we're not the only ones." He smirked.

"Definitely not, we have needs too, we're just more discreet about them."

This conversation had definitely taken an unforeseen turn, he thought, though he couldn't help but grin. "Not all the time."

Smirking slowly, she shrugged, "why should we have to be?"

"Oh, you don't," he said, also smirking. "Most of the time guys prefer you weren't, in fact."

"You do?" Raising her eyebrows, she sat up some more, "do you want me to share more, then?"

Oliver licked his lips and leaned back against the headboard. "If you feel so inclined."

Her eyes were suddenly very wide and she pursed her lips together, "so I should tell you what I'm _really_ going to do when we hang up?"

His eyes widened in surprise and he almost choked on his tongue.

Chloe snickered quietly and smirked, raising her eyebrows and ignoring the warmness of her cheeks, "still with me?"

"Barely," he muttered.

"Do I need to let you go?" Her voice was filled with teasing.

"It'd be much more interesting if you _didn't_ ," he responded with a smirk of his own.

Her mouth dropped open and it took her a second before she could close it, shifting on the couch she licked her lips, "what, you want to listen?"

He drew in a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. "Well, it's not like I'm there so I can watch."

"Who said I'd let you watch?" She chewed on her bottom lip, not sure how far this particular conversation would go. Or should go.

At that, Oliver grinned. "I figured you'd have more dignity than that," he admitted.

That made Chloe blink and pause, her brain going in a whole new direction all of the sudden, "of course I do, your name isn't going to get you anywhere with me."

"I'm well aware," he told her, a faint smile on his lips.

With a deep breath, she leaned against the couch and nodded, "I guess you'll have to use your imagination, then."

He smiled. "Guess so," he said softly.

Nodding, Chloe rubbed her hand against the side of her leg, not sure what all of that meant or how this conversation had even begun, but she had definitely been right about Oliver paying more attention to her than Clark ever had, still, she didn't want to mess anything up between them, "let me know how that works out for you."

"Want me to call with an update?" he teased.

Grinning softly, she shook her head, "no, I can wait until tomorrow, unless you feel lonely."

"I've felt lonely since I left Star City." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.

Her eyes widened again, this time for an entirely different reason, "I'm glad you're coming back tomorrow," she told him quietly.

"Me too," he said just as quietly. "You're really doing all right, though?"

Pursing her lips together, she nodded, "yeah, I'm safe."

"I didn't just mean your safety," he said softly.

She smiled a little at that and nodded, "yeah, I'm okay, just used to having you around, I guess."

"Guess I grew on you, huh?" Oliver grinned a little.

At that, she paused and snickered, not being able to ignore the innuendo, " _C'mon_ boss, that was on purpose, right?"

"If I lie and say yes, you won't laugh at me, right?"

"I guess my mind _is_ dirtier than yours."

"And who knew that was even possible?" He chuckled.

"I'm always willing to prove you wrong," she teased, smiling slowly and turning to lay back down.

"Sounds like a challenge."

"Feel free to take it as one."

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "You must really miss me," he teased.

"I wouldn't lie to you," she grinned softly.

She was probably the only person he'd actually believe that from. "Ditto."

With a soft smile on her face, she nodded, just as she started to stretch on the couch, she sat up as her other phone beeped loudly, with a sigh, she reached for it "great."

"What's wrong?" he asked, frowning.

"This guy from my english class keeps texting me and calling me, isn't it almost midnight already?" She made a face and opened the phone, rolling her eyes at the text.

Oliver glanced at his clock, surprised that it was nearly one a.m. They'd been on the phone together for almost two hours. "Yeah, it is."

She placed her phone back on the table after setting it to silent, "yeah, I'll just let him think I'm in bed."

"Sounds like a good idea," he said with a frown.

"He's nice and all but text messaging me ten to fifteen times a day is not going to help him."

His frown deepened. "Sounds like he has a crush on you," he said, sitting forward on his bed a little.

Chloe shrugged a shoulder and sat back on the couch, "or he wants to figure out what I'm not telling everyone."

"What have his texts been like?" he asked worriedly.

"Nothing that sounds like he works for Lionel," she told him, "mostly random like 'how are you' or 'what are you doing' or something about class or commenting on the school paper."

"Yeah, sounds like a crush," he said again, though he was still frowning.

"I don't know, I'm the weird one who doesn't socialize, I wouldn't be surprised if this was some sort of Carrie situation."

"You may not socialize, Chloe, but you're beautiful and smart. Guys tend to be attracted to that. Well, at least to the first."

Chloe grinned a little at that but still rolled her eyes, "it doesn't work that way."

He raised his eyebrows. "How do you think it works?"

"I haven't figured _that_ out yet." She told him, pursing her lips together, she just knew that she wasn't the kind of girl guys considered 'beautiful'.

"Then maybe you should take my word for it," he responded with a smirk. "Considering I'm a guy."

"You're different."

"How so?"

"I don't know... you're Oliver, you're not like the rest of them." Chloe said thoughtfully, and she knew part of why she thought he was better than every other guy was her crush, but still.

He paused at that. "Well, for the record, you're not like any other woman I've met, Chloe."

Chloe smiled at that, glad to hear he thought of her as a woman and not just some high school girl with a crush, "thank you, I think?" she teased.

"It's a compliment," he assured her with a soft smile. "How many other women could really deal with the fact that their boss likes to dress up in green leather and shoot arrows every night and not think the guy was a total freak?"

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head, "where I come from, that's hardly weird."

"Which reminds me, you still have a lot of stories to catch me up on," he said with a smirk. "Because if what I do isn't weird, I don't know what else to call it."

"Vigilantism, heroism, but definitely nothing compared to Smallville." She grinned a little, "I wish I had my wall of weird to show you everything."

That gave him an idea and a faint smile touched his lips. "I wish you did, too."

"I guess the digital version of it will have to do." She told him, quietly wondering if it was still up at the Torch and if Clark and Pete would take it down when they graduated.

The hint of sadness in her voice wasn't lost on him and he wished he was back home so he could hug her. Which was weird for him, because while he tended to be a physically affectionate person, it was generally reserved for sex. Hugging was new to him, but seemed to come naturally around Chloe. "And you can always tell me about what was on the wall," he said softly.

Chloe nodded softly, smiling, "you might regret this, you know?" She teased quietly.

"Somehow I doubt it," he said, grinning. So far when it came to Chloe, there was nothing he'd regretted.

"There's a possibility I won't quit talking for a very, _very_ long time."

"Good thing I like the sound of your voice then, isn't it?" Oliver chuckled softly.

"Clearly," she grinned a little, looking at the clock on the TV set, "you've been listening to it for over two and half hours."

He grinned, as well, laying his head against the pillows. "We should probably hang up and try to get some sleep. You have school and I have meetings." He sighed softly.

"Yeah," she said, disappointed, "and it's later for you than it is for me."

"I'll be home tomorrow night though," he said quietly.

"I know," she told him, smiling softly, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"See you then. Goodnight, Chloe. Sweet dreams."

"Night, Oliver, have a safe trip back."


	9. Chapter 9

She felt like those twenty-four hours would never go by. She had stayed late at school, helping the editor with the paper, had done the little work that she could at Queen Industries and had done so much homework _ahead_ of time, she probably wouldn't have to do any for weeks. It wasn't until she got a call from Oliver, telling her he was getting on the plane that she felt like time was finally going by.

Of course, after that, she still had over four hours to go, the flight alone usually lasted three and half hours, and it would take him a while to get back to the building.

She voted on going upstairs, showering and ordering pizza as she waited while channel surfing. Nothing on TV seemed interesting enough and every time she heard the elevator, she found herself holding her breath and staring at the door instead of the TV.

Oliver was so tired by the time he made it to Queen Tower, he nearly fell asleep in the elevator as it made its ascent to his apartment. When the doors slid open, he stepped out and was immediately greeted by the much welcomed sight of Chloe, curled up on his sofa. He smiled at her. "Miss me?" he teased as he set his suitcase and briefcase down on the floor.

Chloe grinned up at him when he walked in and shrugged, getting up, "you were gone?"

"Ouch." He gave her a mock hurt look.

Without thinking about it, she walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a hug.

At that, a warm smile spread across his face and he pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. "Missed you too," he said softly.

She smiled as her cheek pressed against his chest, her arms tightening around him, "glad you're back."

He rubbed her back gently, pressing a kiss to the top of her head without thinking about it. "Me too. Extremely glad."

Chloe closed her eyes, doing her best to ignore her heart, which was suddenly beating a lot faster, then after a moment, pulled back just enough to look up at him, "how was your trip?"

He smiled at her. "Dull as hell," he said. "Don't get me wrong, I love my company but sitting through that many meetings in three days should be illegal. By noon, I was ready to quit and go back to that island." There was a hint of amusement in his voice.

Smirking, amused, she shook her head and made a face, "no electricity, I'm sure the meetings were not _that_ bad."

"Thirty old men reading daily reports and statistics and analyzing them, Chloe."

Chloe made a face and nodded slowly, her arms still around him, "okay, that sounds bad, but at least you can tune them out and still have electricity."

"Why do you think I kept texting you?" He grinned.

Raising her eyebrows, she gave him a mock shocked look, "not because you wanted to talk to me?"  
"Okay, this is the part where I tell you that you were the only one I was texting, so obviously you're the one I actually did want to talk to."

She chewed on her bottom lip and raised her eyebrows at him, "well, I guess I believe you, considering you're not a fast texter."

Oliver rolled his eyes at her. "Cute."

Grinning up at him, she shrugged, "occasionally," hesitantly, she pulled her arms back, "I ordered pizza, are you hungry?"

He nodded. "Starving," he informed her. "Is it already here?"

Chloe nodded, looking over at the coffee table and her slice of unfinished pizza, "yeah, it got here twenty minutes ago."

"Cool." He flashed her a bright grin and headed for the sofa.

She handed him the plate she had already pulled out for him and paused, making a face, "you had pizza last night."

He glanced over at her, raising his eyebrows. "And?"

"It's a repeat?" She raised her eyebrows back at him, pulling her plate to her lap.

"Some things are worth repeating," he told her with a smirk, taking a bite of the pizza.

Chloe shook her head and grinned, "I guess at least it's California pizza this time."

"Actually that place you had me call had great pizza. I was impressed." He smiled at her.

"I'm glad you like it," she smiled softly at him, "my uncle actually used to have an apartment about a block away from it growing up so my cousin and I always ate there."

He smiled back at her. "Lois, right?"

"Yeah, but she doesn't live there anymore. She was going to MetU, but I think she dropped out."

Oliver studied her for a moment, searching her eyes. He'd always wondered what it would be like to have family--cousins or an aunt or uncle. But when his parents died, he'd been the only member of the Queen's left. He reached out and touched her hand. "Chloe, I could find out where she is. If that would help," he said quietly.

Smiling softly, she shook her head, "I can find her if I want to, I'm just trying not to, but thank you." She knew Lois had dropped out of MetU around the same time Chloe 'died' and she knew it wasn't a coincidence.

He offered her a small smile, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "I don't have relatives of any kind, so I can't say I know what you're going through," he said quietly.

Chloe pursed her lips together and turned to look at him, linking her fingers with his, "were your parents only children too?"

Oliver nodded slightly. "Yeah. And my grandparents died before I was born, so it's always just been me since my parents died."

Frowning, she squeezed his hand, "I'm sorry."

He shrugged a little. "I've never known any different so it's not like missing something I had," he said softly.

"I guess that's easier, in a way," she told him quietly.

He nodded slightly in agreement, studying her. "I wish there was something I could do," he admitted.

"I know," she looked up at him, studying him back, "I'm sorry it keeps coming up, I don't want you to feel like you're not doing more than enough for me already."

Oliver's eyes softened at her words. "Of course it's going to come up, Chloe. You miss your life." He set his plate down, then picked hers up and set it aside as well. Then he wound his arms around her once more. "You don't need to apologize to me. All right?"

She nodded slightly, her eyes getting warm with tears but she took a deep breath to keep them from coming and wrapped her arms around him too, "I know, but you're already making things so much better."

He tightened his arms around her a little. "You make things better for me, too, Sidekick," he murmured.

Chloe smiled a little and nodded at him, laying her cheek on his chest for a long moment then finally pulled back, "you should eat."

He yawned. "Comfy," he responded, letting his eyes slide shut.

She grinned softly at that, watching him for a second then sliding closer, smiling a little, "you said you were starving."

"Sleep more important," he muttered, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her against him again.

"Okay," she whispered quietly, leaning into him as he pulled her as close as possible. She wasn't really sleepy, but she wasn't going to complain about him wanting to sleep with her. Even if it was in the most innocent way possible.

He sighed contently, resting his chin atop her head, and within moments, he was asleep.

Chloe smiled softly as she felt him relaxing and moved with him towards the arm of the couch until they were both laying down on it, her back pressing against the back of the couch as he kept his arms around her. She had never fallen asleep with a guy like that before, but like she told him the previous night: Oliver was different than everyone else.

* * *

Kyle Sanders was impressed. He didn't know how she'd wound up being the personal assistant to the city's golden boy, but he was impressed as he walked down the corridor toward her office. He'd been trying to get her attention for the last few weeks, and she kept brushing him off. It was becoming very annoying.

And Kyle wasn't used to being turned down. But this time he wasn't taking no for an answer. One way or another, Gabriella was going to go out with him.

He paused in the open door, watching her for a long moment before clearing his throat to make his presence known.

Chloe jumped when she heard the sound, she usually heard the elevator, but she had been going over some documents for Oliver and apparently hadn't heard anything. She was about to ask how she could help this person and apologize but then her eyes fell on him and she frowned.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to see where you worked," he said nonchalantly, stepping into the office and moving to sit on her desk.

"And _how_ did you find out where I worked, Kyle?" She had to tell herself not to panic, that he probably had nothing to do with Lionel, but her heart was beating faster.

"You walked here from school. I followed you," Kyle said easily, grinning.

At that, she stood up, frowning at him, "there's a word for what you're doing, it's called stalking and don't sit on the desk!"

He didn't get up. "Maybe if you'd quit ignoring me every time I tried to talk to you, I wouldn't have to resort to following you to work."

"Get off of the desk, Kyle," she told him again, eyes narrowing, she was going to do her best not to yell at him just because him following her was making her uncomfortable.

"You are way too uptight." He rolled his eyes and got off the desk, moving to stand right in front of her, effectively standing between her and the doorway. "I could help out with that, you know."

"I tried being nice to you but you just don't wanna take the hint, do you? I don't need your help, I'm just fine."

"The only hint I got was that you gave me your phone number but won't respond when I call or text you. I realize you're new, but around here that's what we refer to as being a tease," he said, narrowing his eyes at her.

Chloe rolled her eyes at that, "I have answered your calls and the reason I gave you my number was because of a class project. Trust me, I know the definition of a tease and I'm definitely not interested in teasing you." A little harsh, but at least it was direct.

Kyle grinned at that and stepped closer to her. "Glad to hear it."

"It's called personal space, Kyle, keep off of mine." Normally, someone closing in on her like that would bother her, but it was Lionel's favorite method of intimidation and Kyle wasn't nearly as intimidating.

"Thought you said you weren't going to tease me." He reached out and pulled her closer, pressing his lips against hers.

Her eyes widened and she turned her face away as she pushed him away from her, " _what the hell_? Can't you take no for an answer? I'm _not_ interested in you, Kyle."

"What, are you waiting for _Queen?_ " he mocked, smirking. "Because you're not even close to his type."

Her jaw tightened at that and she walked away and around the desk so it was between them, "I'm not waiting for _anything_."

Oliver paused just inside the door to her office as he heard her words, his eyes narrowing at her defensive posture, at the fact that some guy he didn't know was moving toward her. "Is there a problem here?" His voice was tense.

Chloe turned to look at Oliver when he walked into the office, she glared at the younger man, "no problem, Kyle was just leaving before I decide to _press charges_ against him for stalking." She knew she couldn't do that, not without exposing herself, but she had no doubt Oliver would back her up on her bluff as soon as he heard the guys' name, she knew he'd remember her telling him about the numerous text messages and calls.

At that, he set his briefcase down on the floor and pinned the younger man with an intense stare. "So _you're_ Kyle." He nodded a little, stepping farther into the room and closer to the guy. "What do you say we take a walk and have a little chat?" His voice was deadly calm.

Her eyes widened a little and she knew that if she was in Kyle's shoes, she'd be pretty freaked out. Oliver wasn't even in vigilante mode, it was something else entirely and she assumed that whatever it was, it must be similar to what he had done to Rachel's ex.

All Kyle could do was step back, he glanced in Chloe's direction, trying to ask for help but when she didn't move, he cleared his throat, looked down at his watch, "I was just stopping by to say hi, and actually I'm late- erm, appointment, yeah, dentist, too much sugar."

Oliver stepped closer to him. "That's good. But you should know that if you stop by again, and I find you harassing my assistant, she won't have to worry about pressing charges. In fact, if you think about stepping on any property I own in this city and I find out, we're going to have a problem." He stared at the younger man. "Gabriella's not interested in you, Kyle, and I'm fairly certain she's made that abundantly clear. I hope for your sake I don't hear that you've bothered her again--on my property or otherwise." His jaw was tense. "Am I making myself clear?"

"But I wasn't-- I was just, trying to _talk_ to her, she's ignoring me!" He complained before he could stop himself, "I didn't do anything, you can ask her."

His eyes narrowed even more and without warning, his hands shot out and grabbed the other man by the front of his shirt, yanking him closer. "Listen to me, you little punk," he said darkly. "Stay away from her. If she doesn't want to talk to you, accept it, and move on. You don't want to see me pissed off."

Chloe stepped closer but didn't interrupt, she didn't want Oliver to do anything that could get him in trouble because of her.

But Kyle could barely talk now, "yes, Mr. Queen- S-sir."

Oliver let him go, and smiled, though his eyes were cold. He patted the younger man's chest then stepped aside to let him pass.

Kyle didn't hesitate. He took the opening and headed out the door quickly without looking back.

She sighed softly and shook her head, "thanks? Although I think you enjoyed that."

He turned to face her, eyes softening as he looked at her. A faint smile tugged at his lips. "Maybe a little," he admitted with a shrug. "Are you all right?"

"I'm okay," she told him as she walked around the desk and towards him, "I was about to have my knee meet his crotch if he got too close again, I would have been fine."

"How close did he get?" His jaw tightened involuntarily. "How long was here before I got here?"

"Maybe five minutes?" She told him, ignoring his previous question.

His eyes narrowed slightly at her direct avoidance. "Chloe."

With a roll of her eyes, she sighed, "he kissed me, but it was no big deal."

He opened his mouth to respond, then shut it again, turning to head for the door. Chloe stepped closer quickly and grabbed his arm, stopping him, "let it go, Oliver."

He turned to face her again, his body tense, though he didn't try to move away. He forced himself to take a deep breath and let it out slowly.

She nodded a little, unconsciously rubbing her hand over his arm soothingly, "I'm fine, I promise."

He relaxed a little without realizing it and reached up to touch her face. He sighed softly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "All right."

Smiling softly, she nodded at him, leaning her face into his touch, "he's just an idiot and I promise if he acts up again, I'll let you go after him."

"Good. Because I will." There wasn't even a hint of joking in his voice.

"I know," and she had no doubt how serious he was. If there was one thing Oliver was was protective and it seemed like he was particularly protective of her, which normally would probably have annoyed the hell out of her, but he wasn't protective in a smothering way, he was only protective when he felt like she felt threatened, which, considering her situation, it was a welcomed quality.

He gazed at her for a long moment. "How was your day? Other than the last few minutes?"

"It was good, uneventful, how was your meeting?"

"It was dull, and uneventful," he said wryly.

"And now it's over," she informed him, smiling softly.

Oliver grinned at her. "Thankfully. And now we can figure out what we want for dinner."

"And since your day was worse than mine, I say you get to choose."

"Well, I have been craving Mexican food."

Chloe raised her eyebrows at that and nodded, "sounds good to me, Mexican food here is a lot better than in Kansas."

He grinned. "Naturally." He winked at her.

Rolling her eyes, she smirked at him, "yeah, yeah..."

His smile brightened even more. "I'll turn you into a bonafide California woman yet, Sidekick."

"We'll see about that," she told him and turned around, walking towards her desk and pulling out a stack of menus before starting to go through them.

"Sounds like a challenge was just issued." And there wasn't much he enjoyed more than a challenge.

Lifting her eyes from the menus to look at him, she considered him for a moment and grinned, "then I wish you good luck, Mr. Queen."

"Who needs luck when you're as charming as I am?" He smirked at her, then headed into his office.

Grinning, she shook her head again and went back to the menus, she really couldn't argue with _that_.


	10. Chapter 10

He lay asleep, one arm flopped over the side of his bed, his face buried in the pillow. He still hadn't fully recovered from all the meetings he'd been to the last few weeks. Between those and the late night patrolling, he was starting to feel very run down.

When he heard the distant ding of the elevator door, he pried one eye open to look at the clock. It was barely 6 in the morning.

Something was wrong.

Chloe was as quiet as possible as she stepped into the darkened penthouse, newspaper clutched in her hand as she held her breath. She didn't want to wake Oliver, but when she saw the front page, she couldn't stay in her apartment anymore. She didn't know what it meant, she hadn't heard from Lex since a couple of weeks after she moved to California and she didn't know how safe either one of them were anymore.

He was out of bed in an instant, heading down the hallway without stopping to put on a shirt. He flipped the light on and caught sight of her immediately. "Chloe?"

She stilled instantly, her eyes widening for a second and then her face fell, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"What is it?" There was worry in his voice as he moved closer, noting the paper clutched in her hand.

Holding her breath, she unfolded the paper and held it up to him, the headline of the front page read 'Lionel Luthor: Innocent.'

He stared at it for a long moment, stunned, then lifted his gaze to her face once more.

"I woke up with the newspaper boy and I just had to go and get and when I saw it, I just freaked out and managed to find a cab, I just don't know what this _means_ , but he's out and I know he will go after Lex first, but he will find me, Oliver. It's Lionel, and I don't know what he will do, but I know he won't just forget this, he will want his revenge." She spoke fast, not taking breaths between sentences.

Her panic and fear woke him up the rest of the way and he moved closer to her. "All right, take a deep breath," he said quietly, his voice calm. He rested his hands on her shoulders. "The first thing we're going to do is move you in here." It wasn't a question.

"I don't wanna put you in danger."

"Chloe." He lifted his hands to her face, making her look up at him. "I won't be. But I'm not letting you be in danger either. Not when I can protect you."

Shaking her head, Chloe took deep breaths and placed the paper and her purse down on the couch, starting to pace, her heart beating fast, "I don't understand how this happen, he wasn't supposed to have another trial for a long time and now he's _out_? He did something, Oliver and there has to be a reason why he got out now. He waited this long, but something happened and he is done waiting, because it was only a matter of time before he got out but he must have found something, something big to get out so quickly and so early."

"What do you mean? Found what?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing as he shook his head. She was talking so fast and his brain was lacking sleep and it wasn't all making sense to him.

"I don't _know_!" She said, exasperated, "I don't know, something that would prove his innocence, or some way to buy his way out."

He was pretty sure there was nothing _real_ that would prove Lionel Luthor's innocence, considering he wasn't. But buying his way out was pretty likely. He raked a hand through his hair, falling silent as he watched her pace.

With a shaky hand, she ran her fingers through her hair too, silent for a moment, "I feel like I should call Lex, but that might make things worse. And he _knows_ I'm not dead, Oliver. He made sure to kill my dad and keep me alive to teach me a lesson, he will know to look for me, especially if he can't get to Lex."

"Then let him look." His voice was calm. Too calm. If Lionel came to Star City for Chloe, he'd have a nasty surprise waiting for him.

The tone of his voice made her stop and turn to face him, her eyes still wide as she stepped closer, "I don't want you to get hurt because of me too."

He moved toward her, searching her eyes. "If Lionel Luthor or any of his lackeys so much as step foot in my city, it won't be Oliver Queen they'll have to deal with." 

Chloe shook her head, guilt and fear washing over her as she watched him and for the first time since she met him, she wanted to run away again, to vanish, to do what she should have done before her dad got hurt and stay away from the people she cared about so they wouldn't have to pay for _her_ mistakes.

And she had just made another one.

Instead of coming to Oliver because she was scared, because she was being selfish and only thinking about her well-being, she should have left. Fortunately, it wasn't too late. Not this time.

With a deep breath, she took a step back and watched him, "I don't want you or your alter-ego to get involved in this."

"It's too late for that." His voice was quiet, serious. "Because I am involved, Chloe. And I'm going to keep you safe." He shook his head, staring at her.

With her jaw tight, she looked down and just nodded once but didn't say anything.

"And if you think I'm going to let you walk out of here, and out of my life and disappear so you can protect me, you're wrong. Because I will find you." His jaw was tight, as well.

Chloe just closed her eyes at his words and held her breath, when she looked at him again, there were tears running down her face, "I can't let him kill you too."

"He won't," he whispered, moving so he was right in front of her. "I promise. We'll move you in here. I'll train you. We'll figure out how to take him down--together. You have to trust me, Chloe. Please."

She still hated the idea of staying, hated that she knew he _would_ find her if she left and he would probably only endanger himself even more on the way, but she nodded again.

Oliver touched her cheek. "Look at me."

Holding her breath, she lifted her head slowly to look at him.

"Promise me you're not going to take off and try to do this alone."

Chloe just looked at him for a long moment, trying to imagine what she would do if something happened to him too, her stomach clenching at the thought, with a deep, shaky breath, she shook her head, "it's not fair. It's not fair to you."

"Dammit, Chloe!" He stepped closer to her, shaking his head, his gaze intense. "I'm a big boy, I can decide what's fair or not fair, and you know what wouldn't be fair?"

She couldn't look him in the eye, her hands turned into fists on her sides, "no, I don't, but my dad was a big boy too, Oliver, and I let him be supportive and I let him stay with me and now he's _gone_ and it's _my_ fault and I don't wanna be responsible for your death too!"

"You won't be. Because Lionel has no idea that you're here, much less that we even know each other," he pointed out. 

"He will know, he always does."

He moved so he was right in front of her, his gaze intense. "Listen to me." His voice dropped. "I'm in danger every night by doing what I do. I'm in danger every day by being _who I am_. Lionel already hates me, but I can promise you that he's not going to get to either of us as long as you stay here. I need you to trust me, Chloe. I need you to trust that I can keep you safe, and that I can handle Lionel. Because he's not the only one with a few tricks up his sleeve."

Tightening her jaw again, she looked up at him and held his gaze this time, if she changed her mind about it being too dangerous for him, she would do something else about it and she would vanish, but for now, she nodded.

"I'll keep us safe," he whispered. "You have my word."

Chloe watched him for a moment longer and took a deep breath, nodding again, "I trust you."

For the first time since she'd shown up, he relaxed a little, moving closer and pulling her into a hug without thinking about it.

Her arms were around him instantly and she held on to him as tightly as possible and she didn't move for a long time, not even processing the fact that he didn't have a shirt on at first and when she did, even though it didn't bother her, she pulled her face back to look at him, "what else wouldn't be fair?" She asked quietly, remembering his question from earlier, when she'd interrupted him.

It was as if the air had shifted, taken on new form, and that the tension in general had become some kind of tension between _them_. He gazed down at her, very aware of the feel of her hands against his bare skin. "Me losing you," he admitted.

She held his gaze and her breath as she looked at him, shaking her head slightly, "I don't wanna lose you either."

"You won't," he whispered, shifting closer to her and reaching up to touch her cheek.

Chloe pressed her palms against the back of his hand as they moved closer, trying to hold on to him but not having anything to hold on to, her heart beating fast against her chest.

Oliver held her gaze for a long moment, his heart beating faster, as well, his thumb moving lightly over her cheek as he leaned in, hesitantly brushing his lips over hers.

She paused for a brief second, then moved closer, pressing her lips against his more firmly.

A spark of something he didn't have words for struck him and he slid his hand up and into her hair, deepening the kiss slowly even as his other arm reached out and tugged her against him.

She didn't want to think about what was happening or why it was happening, but she was suddenly feeling something that had nothing to do with the fear she had been feeling moments ago, it was equally strong, but it was a lot better. She slid a hand up his back, holding him to her.

His breathing was uneven as the kiss ended a moment later, his eyes dark as he pulled back to look down at her.

With a deep breath, she looked up at him without pulling away.

Oliver swallowed hard, not pulling away any farther, either.

When he didn't move away, she relaxed a little, at least he didn't seem to regret what had just happened, but he didn't seem to know what to expect anymore than she did, she looked away, trying to think of something to say then looked back at him.

"Wow," he finally murmured, forcing himself to take a deep breath, not sure how to read the expression on her face.

At that, she blinked, raising her eyebrows slowly, "is that... good?"

"Do people usually say wow when something's bad?" he asked uncertainly.

"No, but I wanted to make sure." She smiled just a little.

Oliver pressed his lips against her forehead, his heart still beating quickly in his chest.

Chloe lowered her head for him and took a deep breath, her hand brushing against his bare back unconsciously as she tried to figure out what this all meant. Between Lionel being free, Oliver kissing her and lack of sleep, she couldn't think.

He tucked some hair behind her ear. "Come on," he murmured, sliding his arm around her waist and guiding her toward the hallway.

Leaning into him, she let him lead the way down the hall but when she realized where they were going, her heart started beating faster again, "where?"

He quickly glanced down at her, his eyes widening as he realized what she probably thought. "To sleep, Chloe. You look exhausted and we've got a long couple days ahead of us. We should rest."

Nodding slightly, she wrapped her arm around him as they walked, her thoughts going back to Lionel, "I'm not going to school, I want to do some research and find out as much as I can."

"All right," he said without hesitation. He paused at the doorway to the guest room, looking down at her questioningly. 

Chloe looked into the room then pursed her lips together, looking up at him. She didn't really want to go into it, not on her own, but she didn't want to make him uncomfortable and while they had fallen asleep together on the couch before, this was different.

He offered her a gentle smile. "Your choice," he said quietly.

She pulled her arm from around him, letting go for just a second before sliding her hand into his, "you don't mind?"

"Not at all." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

Her heart was beating faster again as she glanced between his bedroom and the guest room, "hm, which one?"

Oliver remained silent, watching her patiently.

Pursing her lips together, she looked between both rooms again, in one hand, she knew he'd be more comfortable in his own room, but in the other, she wasn't sure he was really comfortable with her invading his space like that, so after a second, she linked her fingers through his and pulled him into the guest room with her.

Oliver smiled faintly and waited for her to crawl under the covers before sliding beneath them as well. The room had dark curtains that blocked most of the sunlight out, and he yawned, resting his head on one of the pillows.

Chloe sighed softly and looked over at him, "I'm sorry I woke you, I know you haven't had much time to rest." 

"It's all right, Chloe," he said softly, turning on his side to look at her. "Don't worry about it."

She turned on her side to face him too and nodded a little, pursing her lips together.

"I mean it," he said, reaching out and taking her hand.

"I know," she told him quietly, squeezing his hand, "you should get some sleep."

"You, too." He let their hands rest between them on the bed, closing his eyes.

Sighing deeply, she shifted slightly to get comfortable but didn't close her eyes, she was just going to watch him until she felt tired enough to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

The next day, Oliver had hired a couple of men and had had them pack and move whatever little possessions Chloe had into the guest room of the Queen Tower, considering she had no furniture other than a bed, it wasn't much at all, in fact it was only about fifteen boxes, mostly of clothes, shoes and papers, that were now piled up in the guest room.

Chloe had spent the past few hours staring unblinkingly at her computer screen and reading every single file, article, story, blog post and newsfeed she could find with the 'Luthor' name on it. She was starting to feel better about the fact that, for now, Lex seemed to be safe and even if Lionel got an address for her, he wouldn't find her in her apartment.

It wasn't until she was sure that she had read every piece of information on the release of Lionel Luthor from jail that she finally placed her laptop down on the coffee table and sighed deeply, rubbing her eyes.

He'd spent most of the day on the phone, making arrangements from his apartment, putting extra security measures in place, and letting the board know he would _not_ be returning to Metropolis the following week for a couple of meetings. His physical presence wasn't necessary when they could simply hold a video conference instead. The whole time he talked, he kept checking on Chloe, keeping an eye and ear out for her. She'd been sitting on his sofa for hours, pouring over the information she was finding online, and she hadn't even taken a break to eat lunch. As he finished up his last business-related call of the afternoon, he made one more call to order Chinese for their dinner. Then he hung up the phone and moved over to sit down beside her. "How's it going?" he asked quietly.

She turned to look at him when he sat down by her side and shook her head, "it's too early, there isn't a lot of information out yet, not information worth looking into anyway. I only found one article that made mention of him resuming his position as CEO of LuthorCorp, but since it hasn't been confirmed anywhere else, I don't know if it's true," she paused for a second, looking up at him, "but if it is, I have no doubt he will make some kind of announcement or press conference and we might know more then."

He nodded slightly, holding her gaze. "Yeah, you're right about that. Lionel's not the type to do things quietly."

Pursing her lips together, she started chewing on the inside of her mouth as she tried to think, "no, he's not, he will want to play the victim and I have no doubt he will want as much of the media attention as he can get."

Oliver looked at her thoughtfully. "Fortunately a lot of people aren't too sympathetic when it comes to Lionel Luthor, considering how ruthless he is." 

"I know, but he has money and power, two things a lot of people like." She told him.

He nodded slightly in acknowledgment. "He's also not the only one with those things."

With a deep breath, she nodded and smiled slightly at him, "lucky for the rest of us, you're not evil."

He searched her eyes. "No," he said softly. "But that doesn't mean I'm all good either."

Frowning, she shook her head, watching him, "you haven't been anything but good to me."

Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "I'm trying to be a better person," he admitted, looking down at the floor.

"You _are_ a good person, Oliver, you're more than that, you're a pretty amazing person, with everything you do to help others."

He glanced at her. "My ex-girlfriend would very much disagree with you," he said quietly.

Chloe paused at that. Oliver had only mentioned the other woman a couple of times in the months that she had known him for, in fact, Chloe didn't even know her name, "what happened?"

He rested his elbows on his legs, folding his hands together, a look of guilt settling onto his features. "I cheated on her," he said softly, not willing to try and soften the truth of it. She deserved to know the truth.

"Oh," her face fell and she was glad he wasn't looking at her, shifting slightly on the couch uncomfortably, she did her best to keep her features as impartial as possible, "what happened?" She repeated the question, not knowing what else to ask. Even though she had heard rumors about Oliver's womanizer ways, she had never seen him acting like that, he had never seen him objectifying a woman in any way or being a jerk to one so it was hard for her to imagine him actually cheating on someone he was with.

He blew out a breath, silent for a long moment. "Self-sabotage, I guess? Find a little happiness and it gets too stressful." He tried to smile but didn't quite manage it. "I just don't know how to hold onto it for long. Always find a way to screw things up."

She had to admit that scared her a little, not that she had reason to, because regardless of their kiss earlier that morning, nothing else had happened and she didn't know if it would. And at the same time, she could understand that all too well, she had done the same thing with Clark before, "defense mechanism, I guess, better walk away before you get your heart broken."

"Pretty much," he whispered, looking over at her with sadness in his eyes that wasn't usually there. "Except it still gets broken. You've just caused it yourself."

Chloe held her breath a little when she met his gaze, her chest tightening at the look on his face. She had never seen him so openly hurt before and it wasn't something she liked seeing. Quietly, she moved closer and wrapped an arm around his back, "I'm sorry."

He closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around her in return. "Brought it on myself," he admitted.

Shaking her head, a little confused, she rubbed her hand over his back as she shifted closer, "were you afraid she was going to leave?"

"She wanted to get married. It was the logical next step. I even kind of wanted it, at least in a way." He looked down.

"But you weren't ready for it?" She asked quietly.

He considered her question for a moment. "I wasn't in love with her. I cared about her. We had fun together, but..." He sighed softly.

Pursing her lips together, she nodded, "then breaking it off was the right thing to do."

"Maybe," he murmured, glancing at her again. "But I should've just told her instead of...." He sighed, raking a hand through his hair. "But you can't undo the past, right? Just...have to try and do things differently in the future."

She frowned a little, only now understanding what he meant, "so you cheated on her?" There was no judgment in her voice, just surprise.

Oliver sighed softly. "Still think I'm such a great guy?" he asked quietly.

Chloe just watched him for a moment, her hand still over his back, "I'm not going to say what you did was right," she told him quietly, "but you obviously regret it, and I maintain that you have been nothing but great to me."

He turned his head to look at her, a faint albeit sad smile on his lips. "That's not the kind of man I want to be," he told her.

Smiling just slightly, Chloe nodded, "that makes all the difference."

He leaned over and kissed her forehead softly. "I ordered us Chinese food."

"Thank you," she told him quietly, still rubbing her hand over his back, "why did you bring this up now?" 

"Because you deserve to know the truth, Chloe." His voice was quiet, but serious.

Chloe watched him for a moment and nodded slightly as she tried to figure out if there were any reasons behind him telling her or _why_ he felt the need to tell her that now, she didn't want to assume anything or get her hopes up, "I don't have a lot to share relationships-wise."

He raised an eyebrow at her, surprised. "Really?"

She shifted uncomfortably and shrugged, raising her eyebrows, "I had a crush on my best friend for years and he didn't feel the same way." 

Oliver winced. "Ouch. That's harsh," he murmured, gazing at her.

Chloe smiled awkwardly at him and shrugged, "I'm over it now, but I lived in Smallville so... options were kinda limited."

"Well, for the record, it was his loss." He wound his arm around her, giving her a sideways hug.

She leaned against his side and looked up at him, "thanks," she paused for a second, trying to decide between telling him or not, "we did go on a date once and, I kinda just pushed him away after it because I knew he had feelings for someone else and I figured that even if he didn't realize it, he was settling and he was going to end up breaking my heart and ruining our friendship."

He frowned. "He had feelings for someone else but asked you out?"

"Well, she didn't feel the same way about him either and she had a boyfriend at the time," she made a face and shook her head, "it was complicated?"

Oliver shook his head a little. "You're not someone who should ever be anyone's second choice, Chloe."

With a deep breath, she nodded a little, embarrassed "thank you."

"Just don't ever forget it," he said quietly, serious.

Holding his gaze, she nodded slightly, her heart sinking a little since it didn't sound like he was even considering the possibility of him being her next relationship, "I'll try not to."

"I don't want to screw things up." Oliver gazed at her intently.

At that, she stilled and blinked a couple of times, "what do you mean?"

"I like you," he said softly. "A lot. Not just as a friend. But I don't have a good track record, Chloe."

Chloe's heart was beating fast all of the sudden, nodding a little, she took a deep breath, "I like you too," she paused, "and I don't really have a record, I usually try to avoid the whole relationship thing."

He was quiet for a moment. "What do you think we should do?"

"I don't know," she told him quietly, watching him, "I don't want you to feel like we have to do anything."

"I don't want you to feel that way either," he agreed softly.

"I don't," she told him quietly before she could stop herself.

A smile touched his lips. "Me either." He searched her eyes.

"Really?" She couldn't help the surprise in her voice.

"Chloe, I think you're amazing," he said softly, lifting a hand to her cheek.

Holding her breath, she met his eyes and smiled a little, her heart beating fast, "I think you're amazing too."

"So maybe we should just take things slow, see what happens?" he asked, searching her eyes.

Nodding, she smiled a little more, "that works for me." 

Oliver smiled back at her, leaning in and kissing her softly.

She met him halfway, returning the kiss instantly, feeling like she might actually be dreaming, she never thought Oliver might actually think of her the same way she saw him, if Clark Kent didn't, why would Oliver Queen? But apparently Oliver really was one of a kind, because the way he was kissing her definitely told her this wasn't one-sided.

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, rubbing his thumb over her cheek. "I have to go to Paris next week for an overseas meeting." He pulled away enough to look at her. "I want you to come with me." 

Chloe blinked, her eyes widening a little as she watched him for a full moment before she could speak again, "you do?"

Oliver nodded slightly. "I know you have school, but maybe your teachers would give your assignments early?"

Nodding, she pursed her lips together, "I'm ahead on most of my classes anyway." She told him, but didn't feel the need to tell him she had worked ahead because she had been bored while he was in Metropolis.

"Somehow I'm not surprised about that." He smiled, his eyes filled with warmth.

She smiled softly and shrugged, "it's not hard."

"Well, not for you, obviously." He grinned and stood up.

Rolling her eyes, she smiled a little then looked up at him, "where are you going?"

"Well, I figured maybe we should start unpacking some of your things. What do you say?"

Pursing her lips together, she nodded a little and stood up too, "yeah, probably should do that."

Oliver smiled at her, then held his hand out wordlessly.

She took his hand and grinned, shaking her head a little, "how do you do it?"

His eyebrows furrowed a little. "Do what?" he asked uncertainly.

"Manage to help me relax even though there's a possibility Lionel is already looking for me," she said quietly, a little embarrassed.

Oliver's eyes softened at her words. "I'd like to think it's because I've gotten to know you pretty well." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Probably," she smiled a little and shrugged, "whatever it is, it works."

"Glad to hear it."

With a deep breath, she looked at the boxes in the guest room when she walked inside and shrugged, "at least there isn't a lot to unpack."

He watched her for a moment, then followed her into the room, picking up one of the boxes and setting it on the bed. "Sometimes that's better anyway." His voice was quiet.

She pushed one of the boxes that were on the floor to an open space with her feet and shrugged, nodding, "I guess so."

Oliver opened the box before him. "You've probably noticed that most of this place is bare." His voice was quiet. This was something he'd never talked about before, not even with Mercy.

Chloe paused and looked up at him, watching him for a second and nodding, "yeah, why is that?"

He glanced at her briefly, then began to unpack the small collection of CD's inside. "Most of everything I own is at the mansion on the other side of the city."

"Why did you leave it there?" She asked carefully, she knew the mansion was his parents' and she had no doubt those things were connected.

He drew in a breath and sat down on the edge of the bed, looking up at her. "It didn't feel right having it here," he confessed.

"But they are your things," she told him quietly, watching him.

"And my parents'," he agreed, nodding a little. "But uh...that stuff's _home_ and this place?" He shook his head. "It's not."

Chewing on the inside of her lip, she watched him for a moment longer before moving to sit down next to him, "then why do you live here and not there?"

Oliver turned his head to gaze at her. "Because I'm not the person I want to be yet. And I want to be that person before I go back home. Because it's my parents' place and I want to make sure I'm..." He paused. "I want to make sure I'm a person they can be proud of before I go back."

"I have no doubt they would be incredibly proud of the man you are now," as she spoke, Chloe reached for his hand and squeezed it gently, "but if you're not ready yet, I'm sure you're close."

"Maybe," he said softly. "It was actually one of things Tess and I could never agree on. She didn't understand why we weren't living there instead of here."

Chloe frowned a little and shook her head, slightly confused, "why did it matter?"

He smiled a bit. "She grew up in a shack in Louisiana. The idea of a mansion was pretty appealing."

"Oh," she nodded slightly, "did you guys live together long?"

"Almost a year," he admitted. He explained how he and Tess had met on the island, how the drug runners had killed her friend, and had planned to ransom him for money, and how they'd managed to stop them and get away. How they'd returned to Star City together and how Tess had lived in an apartment on her own for awhile, but then they'd just agreed it made more sense for her to move in.

Chloe nodded again once he was done, sighing softly and watching him, "it must have been pretty intense, considering how you guys met."

"It was." He nodded a little and met her eyes. "But we weren't really right for each other. I think I knew it all along."

"What makes you say that?" Holding his gaze, she raised her eyebrows a little.

"Tess was...she had too much faith in people. And I don't." He paused. "Not _most_ of them anyway."

"Does that include yourself?" She asked carefully as she tried to read his expression.

"Sometimes, yeah," he admitted softly.

With a soft squeeze of his hand, she shrugged a little, "I guess it's impossible to always believe in yourself."

"Or be perpetually optimistic," he said with a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"That kinda sounds like Clark, actually." She told him quietly, smiling softly, "he has no self-confidence whatsoever, but he always believes in the best of people."

"Apparently Clark and Tess haven't really seen the darker side of people," he said quietly.

Chloe shook her head a little, "I hope they don't have to."

"Here's hoping." He gave her hand a squeeze.

"I'd say I hope we don't have to again but," she shook her head slightly, squeezing his hand back, "I don't see that happening."

"Considering what we do?" He sighed softly, looking down at their hands. "And who we are. I'd say you're right."

Chloe nodded and shrugged a shoulder, "best we can do is be prepared when it happens, right?"

He glanced at her. "Yes." Oliver offered her a small smile. "That's all we can do."

She smiled softly at him and nodded once more, watching him closely and squeezing his hand.

"And at least we're not alone."

Chloe shook her head and hesitated for a second before leaning closer and kissing his cheek, close to the corner of his mouth.

He lifted a hand to her cheek, turning his head to kiss her softly.

She smiled softly against his lips and returned the kiss, being able to kiss him whenever she felt like it was definitely something she could get used to.


End file.
